Scattered Intentions
by lpreki93
Summary: Sakura sadly smiled at her reflection. How could this have happened? She cared for the people she swore to hate. The people who ruined everything in her life. She was drawn to them. To the Akatsuki.
1. The Deal

_How far would you be willing to go for the ones you love?_

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_Sakura stared into the mirror that held her image. The short, florescent dress flowed around her, elongating her pale legs. Her hair, which was set in fuchsia curls framing her face, made her head feel 20 pounds heavier. She eyed the tiara that was carefully placed on the mount of hair. Fighting the urge to throw it off, she tried remembering what had happened. She had fallen asleep after a long mission, but that's all she could think of. Figuring it to be a dream, she walked out of the nearest emerald colored door. Thousands of people stood in a brilliant ballroom, all dressed in only the finest clothes. At her arrival, they separated themselves into two halves, making a long pathway in the middle for her. She stared at the bright; smiling faces confused and made her way down the aisle. As she walked by familiar faces, she heard small whispers of approval._

_Tsunade waited at the end, and held out a large bouquet of flowers. Sakura took them and turned around, hearing a large burst of gasps. A figure stood in between two large double doors, staring straight at Sakura. Someone screamed at the intruder to leave, but he only stood there, not moving. Sakura felt her feet run towards him before she could control herself. Before she reached him, however, the entire scenery changed. Sakura frightfully looked around. She stared desperately into the gloomy sky, which was accented by the gray clouds, which hung over so miserably. Her feet kicked the rocky ground as she searched for anything other than the same sad scene._

_Two large explosions rocked the earth. Sakura had trouble keeping on her feet, but managed to locate the origin of the sound. From afar, she saw two figures rapidly dashing at each other. One of them turned, dazing at where Sakura stood. The other figure quickly attacked him, and Sakura had the sudden urge to yell a warning. But it was too late. The world collapsed as Sakura saw the injured man fade away into dust._

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Sakura's roseate eyes struggled to stay open. She felt her wrists burning, and squinted at the small metal cuffs wrapped around her wrists and ankles. The heavy chains connected with the wall her back rested on. She felt extremely weakened, and knew that she was in no position to fight. Her eyes quickly scanned the two empty walls on either side of her, then at the large bars in front. Her legs trembled as she began to rise up, but the cuffs on her wrists wouldn't let her stand properly. Large footsteps echoed throughout the room. Sakura's head snapped up at the visitor, standing just behind the bars.

"Orochimaru!"

"Surprised little one?" His silky voice vibrated on the walls. "I was afraid that you were seriously injured, but it seems as if you're good as normal." Sakura glared and backed up to the wall as much as she could. "Don't be shy. Come here, kunoichi."

"What am I doing here?" She didn't dare get any closer as she was. Her palms balled up tightly, but she remained against the wall. Just hearing his voice disgusted her.

"We found you in Kumogakure, you were nearly dead." Sakura saw a flash of brightness as Kabuto walked next to Orochimaru. His glasses reflected off the light. "Orochimaru ordered me to take you with us."

"Why?" Sakura snapped. "I'm nothing to you."

"True…" Orochimaru agreed. "But you are worth something to others. Others, who, have something that is of worth to me." Sakura sneered at him.

"You have Sasuke-kun… now you want Naruto. Right? I wont let you have him." Quickly seeing his menacing glare, Sakura couldn't help but feel a little scared as she started to mutter words that made almost no sense. "Of course, I didn't mean to say that I was stronger than you, I-was-just-saying-that-if-I-had-a-choice-I-would-not-interact-with-you. Not-that-I'm-not-sociable-or-talkative… I-actually-talk-all-the-time… ha ha ha… But I mean that… you know… Naruto just gets so much trouble with you so… um…" She was sick of all the wrong attention Naruto got from bad guys like this. Couldn't people just leave the sweet blonde alone?

"This has nothing to do with Konoha." Kabuto stepped forward. "We are expecting another group to come. A trade, if you will." Orochimaru nodded and walked away. "It seems as if they are here."

"Who?" Sakura wondered, but Kabuto only smiled at her and walked away. Sighing, Sakura sat back down. Her hands itched to take off the cuffs, but they were securely tightened. Her sensitive ears caught small trails of a conversation, but the voices were too soft to be fully heard. Then, as soft footsteps got heavier, she heard a strong chuckle. Quickly, she realized that there were two people coming towards her, and the chakra that radiated off them was powerful… very powerful.

The first thing she noticed was the odd combination of red and black. Not only in the eyes of the newcomer, but also in the cloaks they both wore. The second thing was the very large sword that rested in a pair of strong hands. The third was the strange gills on the weird blue face. And the final thing she noticed was that both Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki were standing in front of her. Along with Orochimaru and Kabuto.

'**This is ****not**** a good party.' **She told herself. Kisame continued to chuckle at the small kunoichi, and Sakura began to get a little ticked off. Here was the very destroyer of Sasuke-kun's life, and a fish.

"What are you staring at?" She spoke with full venom.

"Do not start things kunoichi." Itachi's voice was full of warning. Kisame nodded and turned to Orochimaru.

"Can we take her now?" He asked impatient. Sakura grew suspicious, knowing full and well that Orochimaru was a former member of the Akatsuki. Surely they weren't on good terms together?

"You gave your part." Kabuto threw a tiny red speck in the air, and caught it. "Take her. She's a handful anyways." Kisame took his arms and pulled the metal bars apart. Sakura widened her eyes as Kisame walked towards her.

"Don't kill her." Itachi ordered. He knew Kisame well enough to know that the madman has an odd blood thirst. Thrusting Samehada into the air, Kisame cut the chains connecting to the wall in one quick motion. Sakura noticed that they were going to leave the cuffs on, but didn't say anything.

"Are you still after Naruto?" Sakura asked timidly, hoping that they weren't planning on using her as a decoy.

"You think everyone is after Naruto, don't you." Kabuto frowned. "What we all are after, these days, isn't the Kyuubi. But something totally different." With that, both Orochimaru and Kabuto left. Sakura looked at both Kisame and Itachi, frightened for her life.

"Come on." Kisame walked out of the bars and followed Itachi down the hallway. Sakura peeked out from the bars and wondered if they seriously thought she would follow them. If she didn't follow them, then she would be forced to go in the direction Orochimaru went. So, it was basically either follow sick madman who betrayed Konoha, or sick murderer who betrayed Konoha. She didn't have very many choices, and knew that Kisame would soon be back to drag her by force. Trying to gain back her strength, she carefully but steadily headed down the path Orochimaru took. Now that she just happened to be in his lair, she knew that Sasuke would be near. Walking down the long path, she tried to ignore the tingling sensation along her spine and focused on the dark auburn walls. Before she even saw the end of the hall, she felt arms grab her neck. Her body was crushed into the wall, and she tried to fight back but failed.

"I just knew this would happen." Kisame muttered as he knocked her out. "Stupid kunoichi."

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Sakura mumbled some inaudible curses and she once again struggled to open her eyes. Bright lights shone through her closed eyelids, beckoning them to be opened. Fighting the urge to drift away to sleep, Sakura sat up and looked around. Empty walls surrounded her, with no windows. The wall to her left held a black door with its bad paint job rusting off. She rested on a soft white bed, with one pillow, and a small white blanket.

Startled, Sakura looked at the door. As it opened little by little, Sakura knew who was behind it. Itachi walked in slowly, knowing that every moment Sakura was around him, she grew more frightened.

"Come." He ordered, and walked out. Confused, Sakura stood and followed him out the door. She was curious to know what they wanted with her. If this really did have nothing to do with Naruto, then why was she involved? They both walked down a long plain hallway, with every few feet a door. Itachi stopped at the very last door, which were double doors. Sakura stood before them, wondering what to do next. Everything was on alert right now, with the fact that most people don't survive an encounter with the Akatsuki.

"Go in." Itachi said, then stalked back down the hallway. Sakura gulped and stared after him. Was she really supposed to go inside those double doors alone? Then again… that meant that she wouldn't have to be near the Uchiha.

Walking inside the double doors, she first noticed the huge collection of books all around her. She gave the names a quick glance, and learned that each book was about a certain village. A desk was placed at the end of the room, with a figure quietly sitting in it.

Sakura tried getting a look at his face, but he was placed in the far shadows.

"Sakura Haruno." He began. "Apprentice of the Hokage of Konohagakure." Sakura nodded, afraid of where this was going. "You are allowed to talk."

"I… I'm not being rude… I-was-just-scared-I-mean-you-would-be-too-if-you-were-in-the-same-situation-as-me-I'm-not-very-sure-what-you-would-do. Obviously-you-are-the-Leader-of-the-Akatsuki-so-whatever-you're-afraid-of-would-probably-make-me-scared-and…" Sakura mentally bit her tounge to stop her rambling. She wasn't very sure, but she thought she saw a hint of amusement on the shadow man's face. "I'm sorry… I tend to babble a lot when I'm nervous." Before she could say anymore, Leader stood, still in the safety of the shadows.

"You have been much braver than most have been in the face of the Akatsuki." He announced. "It is the old you who chatters on and on when faced in a unknown position. The new you is the strong, determined half. Correct?" Sakura was shocked. **'How does he… know?' **"You have been the apprentice to Tsunade for a while now. Yes?"

"Yes…"

"I have been researching for some time now… and have realized that the Archives of Konoha are only available to the Hokage, and anyone who she/he deems worthy. Does your mentor deem you worthy, Sakura Haruno?" Although he stood far away from her, she could hear his voice as if he was next to her.

"I would need to know why that information is so important to you…" Sakura asked, gaining her confidence back.

"There's a book I need. A book that only Konoha carries. If you can…" He looked surprised when Sakura shook her head and stepped back.

"If you think that I'm going to help the Akatsuki, you're wrong. I'd rather die than do anything you say."

"As you wish." Sakura gasped as she felt her cheeks sting. Her hand reached up and brushed blood away from a straight deep cut. Her arm grew tighter and tighter, until she felt as if air itself was crushing it. She collapsed on her knees and held her arm tightly. Desperately, she tried not to scream as her arm felt like it was shrinking. The bright pain shot through her entire right side and made her wince loudly.

"What are you…" She mouthed, but couldn't bring her voice to speak. Instantly, the burning sensation stopped.

"It can be more painful… If you wish." Seeing her pissed off look, Leader quickly changed strategies. "How about this. I realize how close you are to the Kyuubi. In exchange for this book, I'll offer him protection."

"Offer him what?" Sakura screamed. "You've been chasing him ever since I can remember! I'd be a fool to believe you!"

"The Akatsuki may be ruthless men who take a joy in killing, but I can say this… Our promises are good. Akatsuki members have never lied… never."

"That's not the point." Sakura glared. "To make a deal with you would be like making a deal with the devil. And that's not something I'm interested in."

"This book is important, Sakura-san. I truly promise Naruto's safety. This may be a deal, but one that you will never find again. Wouldn't you feel much safer to know that Naruto is not in danger? You wont even have to hand me the book, just tell me everything you read in it."

Sakura quickly considered it. "What book is it?" She asked.

"The Sosei Stone." His answer was simple and easy, but led Sakura to many more questions.

"That's a myth." She stated. "The stone powerful enough to give a soul to anyone or anything that was brought back from the dead. No such power really works." She remembered all the stories about it back in her early childhood. Her mother would read countless stories about people who used it and lost their souls instead.

"I think you'll be surprised to learn what it really is." Leader showed her a small red pebble, similar to the one Kabuto had earlier.

"That's what Orochimaru has?" Sakura asked.

"The one he owns is a replica of this one." As Leader threw the pebble into the air, Sakura noticed how it shone brightly out of the shadow.

"So… Orochimaru knew that you wanted, no… needed me to look up the stone." Finally, Sakura realized something. "So he made a deal to trade me for the stone. And you, not wanting to give up the stone, made a cheap copy and handed that to him." Seeing his content nod, Sakura grew frustrated. "What's so important about this stone anyway?"

"The power it holds. It's unlimited. But there is only one way retrieve that power. Every other village has destroyed the answers to all the questions I need. The book that your village keeps has been brutally burned and torn for years. As the old saying goes, 'we do not like, what we do not understand.'" Leader sat back down and rested the stone in his palm. His eyes gazed over it, silently wondering what powers held beneath the small pebble.

"And if I do help you with this stone, what are you going to do with it? Use it to kill people?" She felt the anger slowly writhing inside her. Who did they think she was? Just some tool to use and throw away?

"My intentions are not of your concern. Do we have an agreement? You tell me about the Sosei Stone, and I grant Naruto protection."

Sakura considered this. Maybe, just maybe, she could spin this deal more to her favor. She had some info on the Akatsuki, but not enough to truly gather an idea of what they were planning. If she stretched this out just a little… maybe it would be worth it.

"Deal."

"Good. Now, Deidara, if you will?" Sakura looked behind her just in time to see a hand strike her neck. She didn't even have time to feel pissed as she fell unconscious.

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Unlike the last two times Sakura awoke from being knocked out, she felt the familiar warm aura of her own home. For a straight second, she wondered if perhaps she had a very unfortunate dream. Looking at her bedroom mirror, she soon realized that it was real. The cuts on her cheek healed fast, but still left the fresh scent of blood. Saddened by the truth, she groggily got out of her bed and grabbed her bag. She stepped out of her front door and walked into the streets.

Intent on finding information about the so-called Sosei Stone, she completely forgot about checking in with Tsunade, which was until Naruto nearly scrambled over her.

"Sakura-chan!" He mumbled apologies as the two hugged. "Where were you?" He told her that Tsunade was looking all over for her, and that Ino wanted to have lunch with her as well.

"I'll go check on them both." Sakura smiled as they both said their goodbyes. She stared with a heavy heart as he walked down the street. Since Sasuke left, Naruto had been there for her whenever she needed him to. Throughout her life, she always wondered just when she would be able to repay his kindness and protection for her. Now, it was her time to do something for him. **'I'm doing this for you…' **She thought and walked to the Hokage tower.

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"Of course this is why you wanted to see me…" Sakura mumbled as she stared at the sleeping Tsunade and the mountain of paperwork still lying untouched.

"Oh Sakura! I was just getting ready to do those! But if you offered then…" Sakura took the time to give a quick peck on Shizune's cheek and quickly left.

"It looks as if you're busy! So I'll just be going now!" She left the tower and headed towards the back.

There are three different ways to make sure a secret archive is locked and kept secret. The first step, as Sakura did, was placing her censored hand atop the back of the tower, signaling for a brick door to reveal itself. The second was for the door to automatically scan her chakra. The procedure was so sensitive that if the chakra were faked it would have known. Once the door opened it revealed a long stairway circling down. Sakura carefully walked down, taking her time. The final step was to approach the lone door at the end and touch the middle of it with the pointer finger. The door pricked the top of her finger, oozing out just a small peck of blood. As the blood connected with the surface, a small bright light shined through, and the door once again recognized the chakra. Once it was opened, Sakura was face to face with thousands and thousands of shelves.

The Archive held four different sections; the history of Konoha, the geography of Konoha, every missing-nin in the history of Konoha, and one section was dedicated to certain books that were considered taboo to read. Each book in the archive was said to hold secrets in them, secrets that not even the villagers were allowed to be informed of. Already knowing with section to go to, Sakura headed towards the back. Her feet slightly tapped along the marble ground as she walked past the dusty novels. Her eyes scanned over the taboo section.

"Where would it be…" She mused out loud. "Oh. Wait… The Sosei Tradition." Her fingers trailed along the velvet texture of the book as she slid it out from the shelf. She looked over all the other books, and found that each book in that area had the word Sosei in it, but none of them said anything about a stone. Sighing, she took a few out and found a small table nearby. She stacked the books and took a chair. Brushing the dust off it, she opened the first one. Instead of reading the book, however, she found a small folded up paper in it. She displayed the paper in its full length, seeing nothing but just a small torn out page from a book. She looked at the small number on the bottom, which read 48. Instinctively, she pulled out the next book and opened it to the first page. There, again, was another paper, folded up like the last one. Opening this one, she saw that it was page 60. She continued this method until she finally had pages 30, 32, 62, 92, 120 and 161. Scanning over a few sentences, she concluded that these were torn pages from a book on the Sosei Stone. Sakura looked back at the large shelf, which held the Sosei books. "Each one must have a page…" She said. Sighing, she decided that she wanted to have at least pages 1-10.

After several hours, she finally had five stacks sitting in front of her. One stack held pages 1-30, the stack in the middle held 32-60, the next stack had 62-90, after that it was 92-118, then 120-161. She had gone through every book the shelf had, but she was still missing 5 pages. The pages 31, 61, 91 and 119 were missing, but she was still content with the pages she had.

Settling herself in the large piles of torn papers, she began reading. She memorized only the most important parts, being sure to understand exactly what was being said. In the first two pages, she quickly understood that this book was about the stone itself in general. She understood that using just a small dust could give a soul to any rodent.

"Using a whole stone…" She said to herself. "I wonder what that could give a soul too… but it doesn't matter since this is just fiction." Intent on keeping her beliefs set straight, she continued to read. The history of the stone was next for her to read.

"Apparently a man had come across a magical fountain of red water in a forest, and had wanted to give it to a "princess" as a wedding gift. But the man's jealousy of the princess and the prince poisoned the fountain. On the day of her wedding, the princess drank a small vital filled with the fountain's red water, and instantly died of poisoning. A wizard came to look at the fountain, and told the villagers that the "spirits" of the forest used the aura of the fountain to keep them in this earth. Giving them the power to stay connected to this life, other-known as a soul." Sakura snickered. "The villagers felt that this power was so magical and beautiful that they wanted to cherish it. They hardened the water and made several large stones." She shook her head and thought of all the times a stupid village had "angered" the gods or the spirits. It was such a classic story.

"The King of the village died soon after, and as the villagers mourned, the Prince took a stone and told them to bring the King back with it. The king wasn't the only one who came back… The stone gave souls to all the dead bodies in any graveyard nearby, including enemies. A big war came out and blah blah blah. The villagers hid the stones throughout the world, and anyone who dares used them dies by an 'unfortunate' death." Sakura skipped over to the next chapter, already bored by the fairytale.

The first page that was missing was the start of a list of people who had died by using the stone. "That's not important." She mumbled as she quickly scanned over the names. No one even sounded familiar. She went on to the next chapter, which was on how to use it. The first few pages listed different reasons why to use it, then it listed things you need. The next missing page was the exact direction of the ritual. "That would have been good information…" She said, thinking of what she learned that would be helpful to the Akatsuki, but not enough to where they would still need her. Quickly, she looked at the items needed. Most of them were normal things like; the body, the stone, an empty space, water, rock and grass. But one thing stood out the most. The Kihaku Stone. Sakura was familiar with the name. It was a stone that was said to have a life-like quality. Which was why the name meant Soul. It was located only in the Land of Waves.

Deciding that this would be the only information she needed, she gathered the torn pages and slipped them in her bag and left the Archives.

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Sakura laid her bag down by the foot of her door and stalked to her room. She had felt their chakra before she entered her house. The Akatsuki must be very impatient to already be at her house the day she was brought back.

"Already?" She asked as she steadily walked inside. Her eyes focused on a tall blonde sitting on her bed. His hair was put up, with the bangs sliding over his eye. The other member stood near by mirror, wearing a rather strange mask.

"Leader wants the information." The blonde said. **'This is the kunoichi who killed Sasori no danna' **Deidara thought as she calmly smiled.

"Is Sakura-chan ready!" Tobi rushed forward to her. Deidara grabbed the end of his black cloak and pulled with a force.

"Don't call her that. This is a mission." He scolded Tobi and looked over to the girl.

"Just give him a rest! He's trying to make this easy on the victim." Sakura flinched when she saw the melting glare Deidara gave her. "But-you're-the-Akatsuki-and-you-can-do-whatever-you-want-to-him-he's-you're-partner-for-a-reason-and-uh." She bit her tounge to stop to rambling. Sakura stepped back when Deidara got up from her bed.

"You're a chatter." He said and disappeared, only to reappear behind her. "No wonder why Tobi was instantly drawn to you…"

"Hey! Tobi was sorry!" Tobi yelled as Deidara chopped Sakura's neck, knocking her out once again.

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This time, Sakura didn't wake up to an uncomfortable meeting with the Uchiha. Instead, she woke up to an uncomfortable meeting with the Leader.

"The information?" His face was once again masked by darkness.

"So soon?" She questioned. She needed to open him up.

"Yes. I'm in a hurry." Sakura smiled. That little bit of information said a lot. Instantly, she told him about the history of the stone, and the other stone that was needed. Of course, she left out the part of where it's located. "This stone… I've never heard of it…"

"I have." Sakura informed. "I studied it in school once."

"That'll be all. You are to go back to Konoha. Tell anyone you like about this, but I'll warn you now, it's better you not."

This was what Sakura was waiting for. "Wait a minute… I may have left out some information. Vital information." Leader stood emotionless. "Information that I might be willing to make a deal with."

"A deal with the Akatsuki." Leader said. "I thought you'd rather die."

"A deal is a deal. And an Akatsuki never lies." Sakura shifted on her feet, hoping to get somewhere.

"I'll listen." Leader spoke.

"A small pebble may work, but having a whole Sosei stone would be extremely powerful. You also need the Kihaku Stone, and I'm willing to hand both to you." Sakura knew that she would never hand them to him. But, this way she could give more into the Akatsuki.

"And you could do this?" Seeing her nod, Leader motioned for her to continue.

"In exchange, I want you to make me a member." There. She said it. But, was it enough?

"The Akatsuki members are all people who have left their past behind, who are not afraid to kill even those closest to them. I doubt you would be willing to leave Konoha."

Sakura mentally flinched. She needed another good reason, and fast. "Having a spy wouldn't be very bad, would it? Being the apprentice of the Hokage gives me a lot of special treatment. I know all the details on any mission that is given out. I know all the affairs between other nations. I'm informed of any details about Orochimaru there is, and I also know that Kabuto hasn't been a very loyal spy to you. I killed Sasori with the help of one person, and I've trained since that. I'm the best med-nin around, so I'm very knowledgeable about healing people. Including eyes." She put out every possible reason she could think of at that moment. Inside, she was dreading his answer. If he said no, then she would go back to Konoha and only say that the Akatsuki was searching for some myth. But if he said yes, then she would able to learn more. Even if it meant somewhat defying her own home.

"You give good reasons." He finally admitted. "I have two challenges for you." Sakura gulped. "Give me the two stones, and heal Itachi Uchiha's eyes."

"**Deal."**

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The things you do represents how faithful you are. Whether it's a simple going out of your way to help your mother with chores, or joining another group, only to defy them in the end so you can help your own group.


	2. The First Lie

_The beginning of a spider web starts with one single strip of thread. The beginning of a fake life begins with one small lie. To keep them up, you continue with the false truth. Only ending up with a web of lies that you cannot run from._

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"How am I supposed to get two stones that don't even exist!" Sakura yelled at herself. She stood in Tsunade's office, trying to conceive a plan. "I can get him the Kihaku Stone though… but how?" Her eyes scanned the desk, and immediately thought of a plan. "Tsunade must have some mission that is close to the Land Of Waves." She looked through the contents, and found what she was searching for. Grabbing the large stack of mission orders, she began to shuffle through him. Several months ago, Tsunade had granted her the permission to proofread the missions, even change them if necessary.

"A rank b mission to the Land of Waves requiring three shinobi to retrieve an important document from Tazuna. That's perfect!" Sakura looked at the shinobi who were assigned to it, and found that she was one of the members, along with Naruto and Shikamaru. "When was Tsunade planning on telling us…" Sakura mumbled, blaming the Hokage's love of sake for this late announcement.

She had to get that stone soon, so she decided to tell Naruto and Shikamaru herself. She called Shizune and told her to get them both and bring them to Tsunade's office packed and ready to go.

"Does Tsunade mind?" Shizune asked.

"She should be grateful that I'm taking over her job while she sleeps all day." Sakura smiled as she watched Shizune leave.

"I was planning on telling you that as soon as I woke up." Tsunade played with her ponytails as she walked in the office. "I didn't expect to sleep the whole time." Sighing, she shuffled through the large pile of documents on her desk. "Nothing important…"

"Well, I'll be going on a mission, so make sure you don't sleep the whole time." Sakura picked up her bag she used for missions. The bag was left at Tsunade's office for safe keeping, knowing that she felt much better with it being around all times.

"Yeah, yeah. I know what to do." Tsunade shooed Sakura out, handing her the mission scroll.

Meeting Shikamaru and Naruto on the way out, Sakura explained to them what the mission was. Originally, the mission wasn't very important, so they could have left any time the wanted. But Sakura was in a hurry, so she told them that they were going to leave right there and then.

"Why are we going now?" Naruto asked, but Sakura shushed him.

"The sooner the better!"

"So troublesome…" Shikamaru whined. But he was glad that this got him out of helping Ino clean her house.

From there, the three left, heading to the familiar Great Naruto Bridge.

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"We're here… now what?" Naruto asked. Sakura was just wondering the exact same question.

"We find Tazuna." Shikamaru added in. "You've met him before, right?"

"Well, yeah. But it's been along time. I kinda forgot where he lived…" Naruto sheepishly laughed, trying to make the situation lighter. "Sakura, did the mission say where he was?"

"Umm… no." Truthfully, Sakura was never even thinking about the actual mission. Her focus was on the Kihaku Stone. But now that she was here… what was the next step?

"Naruto! Sakura!" Sakura turned to see a middle aged bald guy running towards them. Without the gray hair, it was hard to tell that it was Tazuna, but he still had the same tacky glasses. "And you must be Shikamaru. I've heard all about you."

Sakura blinked. How did he know who Shikamaru was? Sharing the same looks, Sakura guessed the Shikamaru must've been curious as well. But Naruto was his usual self.

"Hey! You lost your hair!" Naruto pointed to where the sun glinted off his pale head. Sakura took Naruto by the ear and dragged him away.

"Be polite!" She scolded him.

"Do you have the document we're suppose to retrieve?" Shikamaru asked. Tazuna nodded and motioned for them to follow him. He led them to the same house as the last time they were here.

'**This was our first mission…' **Sakura thought sadly. **'Team 7…'**

"Where's Tsunami and Inari?" Naruto asked. He was staring at the picture of Tsunami and Inari together.

"Well, actually…" Tazuna faltered a bit. "They both died a while ago. They got sick…" Naruto ducked his head while Shikamaru shook his silently. Sakura looked over to Tazuna shocked, but his face remained passive.

"I'm very sorry." She said, and got a nod as a reply.

"This is what you must give to Tsunade, and only Tsunade." Tazuna took a small scroll from his kitchen table and handed it to Sakura. His eyes locked on to her immediately, and seemed to be trying to tell her something.

"We'll deliver it safely. I assure you that." Shikamaru went to take it from her, but Tazuna interrupted.

"I'd rather have Sakura carry it. She's seems to most capable." Sakura blinked, clearly confused. As she held the scroll, she saw the same look from before, an almost desperate look.

"Fine…" Shikamaru sighed, troubled.

"Do you have a place to stay? Perhaps you should stay here." Tazuna offered.

"Actually, we should be getting back." Shikamaru looked at Naruto who nodded in return.

"Hold it now, who says we can't stay. I'm pretty sure we're all tired." Sakura laughed and looked pleasantly at Tazuna. "We'll be taking that offer."

"Yeah. I am kind of tired!" Naruto energetically cheered.

"So troublesome." Shikamaru looked at Naruto who was supposed to be 'tired'.

"Well now, I'll show you to your rooms." Tazuna lead them to the first door. "Naruto, this will be yours. Shikamaru, yours is the one across from him. And Sakura, if you'll follow me." Sakura left Naruto and Shikamaru to their rooms, and entered the very last one in the hall.

"This is a nice room." The walls were decorated with a pale pink, and as the pillows rested softly on a bright aqua comforter, Sakura noticed something odd on the bed stand. A small seashell sat stiffly, shaking with every hard footstep on the wooden ground. The seashell was rainbow colored, with each line a different shade.

"So sorry, I must have left it there!" Tazuna hurried to the seashell and stuffed it in his pocket. Sakura noticed how jumpy he became.

"This scroll was never to be read to Tsunade." Sakura said.

"You're very attentive." He almost smiled. "No, it's not for Tsunade. Lets see if you can solve the riddle first. Then you may read it." With that, he walked out of the room, leaving her behind to stare at the scroll.

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"Sakura is acting weird… right?" Naruto asked Shikamaru. The two have been in Naruto's room since Sakura left to her own.

"All women act weird." Shikamaru stared out the window, cloud gazing.

"I guess… but don't you feel a little suspicious? I mean Tazuna only wanted Sakura to hold the scroll."

Shikamaru looked at the blonde, silently wondering when he became so alert.

"People change…" Shikamaru said, and began thinking of a million different examples.

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Sakura stared at the opened scroll extremely frustrated. The only way to see what it says was to answer a very annoying riddle. A riddle with a very easy answer.

_I wreak havoc to those who use me, yet I give essence to those who receive me._

"A stupid, fake, not real 'Sosei Stone'." Sakura said into the paper. As if by magic, the words reformed, leaving a completely new sentence.

_What needs me is dead. Yet what I need is in a den._

Sakura thought about that for a while. What needs a Sosei Stone, is the dead body, and what the Sosei Stone needs…

"The Kihaku Stone." She spoke. Once again, the words altered. But this time, the words reshaped it into lines. Standing before her was now a map. The map had a straight line from Tazuna's home, into the ocean where the Great Naruto Bridge was built. The line continued under the water, into a small hole.

"A den is a cave…" Sakura mused. "The Kihaku Stone is in the cave, under the water."

"Sakura-chan finally got it!" Startled, Sakura turned to the window. Two uninvited men stood just before her.

"It took you long enough-un." Deidara snatched the scroll away from her.

"Hey! Give that back!" She quickly shut up when Deidara gave her a bloodcurdling look. "Well-if-you-need-it-that-bad-you-can-keep-it-I-mean-I-already-saw-it-so-techincally-what's-to-say-that-you-can't…." Deidara looked bored, however, he scanned Sakura suspiciously.

"You don't have to be scared of Deidara-senpai! Tobi knows that he can be mean but he only acts that way for show!"

"Hey! Don't say things that aren't true-un!" Deidara knocked Tobi in the head viciously while he eyed the map. Sakura noticed the tongues on Deidara's hands.

"Tobi is sorry!!"

Sakura looked utterly confused. Were Akatsuki members suppose to be this carefree? Especially when there were people in the next room? And why did he have tongues on his hands?

"This is where the Kihaku Stone is-un?" Deidara showed Tobi the map, which nodded in return, still sad over their mini-fight. "Why haven't you gotten it already-un?"

"I… well… I just…I just found out where it was…" Sakura took a step back, feeling uneasy.

"That's no reason for laziness-un." Deidara watched as the kunoichi grew a violent red in the face.

"Don't you call me lazy! If you want that stone then you get it yourself!" Sakura fired at him. Tobi flinched at her yelling, while Deidara wondered what happened to the stuttering little girl.

"That wouldn't be necessary-un. I thought you wanted to join us, how would you do that if I'm the one who is handing the stone to Leader-un?" Deidara angrily glared at her.

"Getting the stone isn't the hard task. It was the research that was the most difficult. Plus, you have no idea where the Sosei Stone is either, so don't go all macho on me." Truthfully, Sakura had no idea where she would find this 'Sosei Stone'. Right now, she was treading on thin ice.

"You little brat-un!" The two stood scowling at each other.

"Someone is coming, Deidara-senpai." Tobi walked near the door and rested his head on the wall. "Someone with loud footsteps."

"Everyone has loud footsteps walking on wood-un!" Deidara took a quick peak outside, and saw an old man turning the corner. "That's the guy who gave you that scroll right-un?" he asked Sakura.

"Yeah, that's Tazuna-san."

"He's a fake-un." Sakura saw a small flicker of anger in Deidara's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Sakura asked as Tobi sat down on the floor.

"His chakra is fake, he isn't alive-un." Deidara shut the door quickly. "You have to get that stone, now-un." With one look towards him, Tobi hurried to the window and opened it.

"Now? But!" Tobi pushed Sakura out the window. Deidara grabbed the scroll and followed them.

"The bridge isn't that far from here." Tobi said as they raced towards it.

"Stop! What happened to Tazuna, and why are you afraid of him?" Sakura reached out to grab Deidara's cloak, but he looked away.

"We aren't afraid of him, but we need to get that stone and take it to Leader as soon as we can-un. And as far as I know kunoichi, the real Tazuna is dead-un."

"But…" A sharp pain in her side interrupted Sakura. She pulled out a thin kitchen knife and quickly healed the wound. Tazuna stepped out from behind a building and rushed towards them. Deidara took his hand and hid it into his clay bag. His hand came out with several small clay birds. As they flew towards Tazuna, he muttered, 'Katsu' under his breath.  
The birds all exploded. The impact left Tazuna on the ground, breathing hard.

"Come on!" Tobi took Sakura's hand and rushed towards the bridge.

"What about?" Sakura turned around to see Deidara attacking Tazuna with more bombs. "He's going to kill him!" Sakura yelled.

"Deidara-senpai isn't going to kill anything but a puppet." Tobi said. Sakura looked up to him shocked. She was about to say something when they arrived at the bridge.

"It says that it's right down there." Sakura said.

"Does Sakura-chan want to go, or should Tobi go?" Tobi asked her.

"I'll go." Sakura said and dived under. She was skilled in holding her breath for long amounts of time. She looked for any sign of an entrance, but found none. Her hands scanned the wall, and eventually she found an uneven area. Pushing into it, she found that it was a door. The door creaked open and eventually led to a small tunnel. She swam in and was surrounded by dirty, moss-covered walls. The water began to dim little by little, and soon she found herself coming out of a small pond. Her hands quickly reached for ground, and were met with cold marble. She got out of the water completely and looked around. A small room surrounded her, with marble floors and walls. There were no doors, nothing, expect for a small stand in the right corner. Carefully, she stepped towards it. The stone itself was as big as her palm, and shone a bright gold, although there was barely any light in the room. The glossy surface transfixed Sakura, as she found herself staring into her reflection.

"The Kihaku Stone…" She whispered. Her hands encircled it, and carefully lifted it. The stone itself was so light; it felt as if she was carrying a feather in her hands. Instantly, the wall behind it opened. Gasping, Sakura could only stare in horror as a flood of water rushed in. The current swept her off her feet, and she soon found herself inside the small tunnel. She got a tighter grasp on the stone, and swam until she collided with a hard wall. She pushed against it, but it would budge.

Knowing she wouldn't last any longer underwater, Sakura pushed chakra into her palms, and pounded the wall as hard as she could. The minute the door jammed open, her mouth involuntarily opened, swallowing a mouthful of water. Still holding the stone, she speedily swam up until her head shot out of the water. She climbed back up and fell onto the ground, gasping for her life. A loud thump met her ears. She looked up and saw Tazuna's smashed up body land in front of her, clearly dead.

"Sakura-chan got the stone!" Tobi yelled and helped her up.

"Y-yeah." She mumbled and looked at Deidara. He stared at the body and kicked it. "That Tazuna puppet gave your two teammates a sleeping drug."

"So that was a puppet…" She muttered.

"Yeah-un."

"And only one person I know can make a puppet out of a human…" Sakura couldn't believe it.

"Yeah-un."

"It was Sasori-san's work." Tobi said. "Deidara-senpai's former partner."

Sakura looked up at Deidara shocked. She had no idea Sasori was his partner.

"And you're the little brat who killed him-un." Deidara took Tobi's arm and vanished, with an evil glare towards Sakura.

She collapsed on all fours, trying to regain her breath. "Damnit." She whispered. Sasori was supposed to be dead… but… he wasn't. Not only that, but it appeared that the Akatsuki and him weren't on good terms.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto ran up to her, followed by Shikamaru. "What the hell happened?!"

Sakura just stared at him, thinking about her next lie.

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"Such a pity…" Tsunade said while staring at Naruto, Shikamaru and Sakura. "That the Akatsuki had to kill a whole family, and then trick you to get Naruto."

"Yeah! But Sakura-chan sure showed them!" Naruto tried to get Sakura to smile, but only got a small hint of annoyance instead.

"Well, nice work Sakura. I'll be sure to alert everyone about the Akatsuki. Naruto, I want you to be careful." She ushered them all out of her office. On the way home, Sakura declined Naruto's offer of dinner.

"But some other time…" She smiled. Naruto frowned and gave her a quick hug.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan." She watched as he walked away. Taking out the Kihaku Stone from her bag, she stared into her reflection, then at Naruto again.

"You're welcome…" She whispered into the silent air.

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_It will start with one simple lie. Just a small lie to save someone from the truth. But that one simple lie can turn into a web of lies… Eventually, you wont know what's true, and what's false._


	3. The Street

_A/N: Naruto is sadly not owned by me. Boo. _

_Starting your path is a rough street. That street is your subconscious questioning whether it is worth it. Once you get past that small, little street, then the path appears. However, the path may get cloudy from what is right or wrong_

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Sakura stood among the villagers as the funeral ceremony for Tazuna ended. The dark clouds fluttered above, cascading freezing raindrops on all the extended umbrellas. Naruto stood next to her, and from his pained expression, she knew what he was thinking. How could the Akatsuki do something like this? Well, Sakura would never admit to him that it wasn't the Akatsuki.

Tsunami and Inari were found buried behind Tazuna's house. The original purpose of digging them up was so that they could be buried in a proper cemetery with Tazuna, but the bodies were found butchered. They had been murdered, and now everyone thinks the Akatsuki did it.

"Thank you for attending." Tsunade said over the soft murmuring. She stood next to his open casket, allowing people to say goodbye one last time. Sakura patiently waited as Naruto took his time saying his goodbyes. Finally, it was her turn.

He looked so fake… Sakura knew that it was just a puppet. But, even a puppet can't look real in death. It made her just a little sad. But even more confused. This was the work of someone who's dead. Someone who she witness die. And he wasn't in the Akatsuki, Sakura noticed, because Tobi had on his ring. A soft snap made Sakura examine him closely. She noticed something bulging out of his coat pocket. Making sure no one else saw her; she carefully slipped the item out. It was the rainbow colored seashell. Sakura watched as the shell shook in her head, then settled itself back in her palm. It now had a crack in the middle.

Tazuna's body had a sudden spasm, before it rested down. Sakura checked his vital signs, but he was still dead. "He died…" She looked back at the chipped shell, then at Tazuna. "What does that mean?" She wondered quietly.

"Sakura, are you done?" Tsunade kindly took Sakura's shoulder. Closing her palm, Sakura nodded. She walked off from the ceremony, intent on researching the shell.

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"So you failed…" Coffee-colored eyes glared venomously at a young man.

"It was not my fault. They interfered once again." Sighing, the young man took a seat nearby. "Sousui-sama, who are they anyway?"

"They are the Akatsuki." Sousui stared at the redhead. **'But that won't concern you any longer.' **"Don't worry about them, soon, the Akatsuki will be destroyed."

"Sure… But. They got the Kihaku Stone."

"Just focus on the Sosei Stone now."

"Hai."

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Sakura stared into the Kihaku Stone. The gold color brightened up her dark room. Her reflection stared back, sad looking and tired. She had just read through the torn pages, yet found nothing valuable. Feeling dejected, she took out a kunai and began scraping the dirt from her fingernails. Who said kunoichi's didn't have the right to take care of them? Not too long ago, she felt that if you had to give up something that wasn't as important, just to fulfill another dream, you didn't have any guts. Which is why she began to grow her hair back out. Reflecting on her thoughts, she didn't notice the small prick as her kunai cut the tip of her finger. A small blood dripped out, and landed on the closest thing, the Kihaku Stone.

The bright light of the stone blinded her eyes. Squinting, she saw the stone moving. It glided over her head, and she had to turn to see where it was going. She followed it to the kitchen, shielding her eyes with her hand. The stone began to pound against her fridge, fast and swift. Sakura shut her eyes and grasped the stone in her hands. She felt something firm flutter against her hands, then a bright pain settled into her arm, making it stiff. Incredulously, she got a strong hold on it with her other hand. The stone settled down, and when she let go of it, it fell down with a loud crash on the floor.

"It poisoned me!" She yelled to herself. Fortunately, she had antidotes ready in her room. With her free arm, she carried the stone and placed it under her mattress, making sure it didn't go anywhere. She got out an antidote and a needle. Dipping the needle into the liquid, she slid it beneath her skin into her veins. Instantly, she felt her arm grow back its use. Sakura took out the stone, expecting it to try to poison her again. But when she held it, it was a normal stone.

"Haruno-sama, Tsunade needs your presence in the hospital immediately." A shinobi interrupted her.

"Sure." She said and left for the hospital with two things on her mind. What was the stone doing, and how would she get this Sosei Stone.

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"Tsunade, what is it?" Sakura looked around at the crowded hospital. Nurses ran from station to station, nearly tripping over thin air. She could feel the nervousness from all of the nurses.

"Sakura, good you're here. Inside please!" Tsunade motioned for her to follow. She led them to another floor, where Sakura noticed was completely empty.

"No one is here… " Sakura said.

"That's because no one except me, you and Shizune are allowed in this floor. At least, until he is better." She opened the farthest door, and told Sakura to go inside. Following her orders, Sakura slowly walked into the room. The beeping sound of the machines told her that who ever was in it had a steady heart rate. Sakura first saw the dark hair, tousled from a bad fight. Next was the young, handsome face that was she so familiar with. Then, the burn that left his shoulder disfigured.

"Sasuke…" She whispered. Her heart stopped for just a second, at least until her medic side kicked in. "What happened to him?" She walked towards him and inspected the burn. His skin was shriveled and nearly black, she knew that unless there was a way to completely heal it, he would either have to cut his arm off, or live having a shriveled shoulder forever.

"He got into a fight with his brother. This injury is a result of the Gokakyu no Jutsu, his fireball technique." Tsunade tried touching the burn, but the broiling heat made her flinch.

"That jutsu isn't this powerful." Sakura said, staring at his shoulder.

"Apparently, Itachi Uchiha has made it that powerful. Sasuke Uchiha was found outside of Konoha just a few moments ago." Tsunade told Sakura to stay with him.

"Sure…" She nodded and sat next to Sasuke. Tsunade closed the door as she left. The burn was still a dark red, turning soon to black. "Did Sasuke walk to Konoha, or was he left here?" Sakura wondered out loud.

"Tobi dropped Sasuke off!" Sakura nearly jumped as the two same Akatsuki members jumped through the window. "Leader ordered Tobi and Deidara to take him to you!" Sakura watched as Deidara looked at the burn.

"It wasn't Itachi who did that-un." He said. "We found his little brother outside the base-un." Sakura gasped. "Leader searched through his things, and found this-un." Deidara gave her a folded paper. Sakura opened it, and found that it was one of the missing torn pages. The number at the bottom read 61.

"But why would he leave Sasuke here?" Sakura asked. "Shouldn't you kill him or something?"

"He said it was a gift or something-un. Just look inside his bag and stop whining-un." Deidara grew impatient with the kunoichi.

"Ok…" Sakura looked at the burnt bag that rested next to Sasuke's bed. She opened it, with the chard remains falling off. Inside it, was nothing but the small red pebble. She took it out and examined it. "This one was the fake… right?" She asked.

"Orochimaru realized that it wasn't real-un. He also somehow found out that you're searching for the whole stone-un." Deidara looked over at Sasuke. "So Orochimaru sent him to "help" you. Just realize that he isn't a friend-un." Deidara took a hold of Tobi and turned around to jump out of the window.

"Wait!" Sakura called. Tobi turned around, but Deidara remained looking out the window. "The Kihaku Stone began to fly around and poisoned me!" It sounded ridiculous to her, but she said it anyways.

"Did Sakura-chan get any blood on the Kihaku Stone?" Tobi asked. Seeing her nod, she continued. "The Kihaku Stone is one of the most purest stones over. It has an automatic danger alarm. So when any time blood sheds on it, it thinks its in danger. Inside the stone, are tiny shards of poison. Tobi looked this up himself!"

"Don't be a liar Tobi-un! I told you that-un!" Deidara knocked Tobi in the head and dragged him out the window. "And you little brat don't need to know any more details-un!"

Sakura watched as they both disappeared into the night. "He hates me…" She said to herself. She knew that she shouldn't care, he was an Akatsuki member! But she couldn't help herself… she felt bad that he loathed her so much.

"Mmmm…." A soft murmur made Sakura check up on Sasuke. She had no idea what to do with his burn, but also that he wasn't at Konoha for forgiveness.

"Sakura-san…" Shizune walked quietly into the room. "I've made plans for his burn. He would never like having an arm cut off…"

"Oh who cares what he likes!" Tsunade barged into the room as well. "In fact, I think we should cut both arms off! What do you say Sakura? Should we cut both off, or do what Shizune wants and just heal the burn?"

Sakura blinked. "I think healing it would be better… Maybe he'll accept it, and tell us information on Orochimaru." A lie, of course. But Sakura needed to have a little talk with Sasuke.

"Oh fine. But make sure it hurts Shizune!" Tsunade grabbed Sakura and went out of the room. "It's not if he'll accept us, but if we'll accept him…" Tsunade said.

"We could try…" Sakura muttered. She didn't like pretending, but she had to.

"Well… I think it would be best if you told Naruto." Tsunade told her that Naruto was waiting for her outside the hospital.

"Okay…"

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Sakura walked out into the raining sky. Her thoughts were scrambled, and she wondered what to do next.

"Sakura-chan! Is it true? Is he really back?" Naruto nearly jumped on her.

"Yeah… He's fine, but there's a serious burn mark and-"

"I don't care! I want to know if he's staying!" Naruto pushed Sakura aside, trying to get into the hospital. She nearly fell into a puddle as she called out to him. But he ignored her as he argued with a nurse to let him see Sasuke. "I don't care if no one is allowed there! He's my team!"

"Fine…" She whispered to no one. "But there is no team…" She walked to her home and wondered if all this was worth it. She made a **deal **with the Akatsuki, all for Naruto's sake. Inside, she got a hold of the Kihaku Stone. "Where is the Sosei Stone…" She asked herself. "Or, at least something like that?" The glow on the stone brightened, but only a little.

"Sakura-san!" Shizune appeared behind her. "Sasuke Uchiha has awoken. I thought you would like to see him…"

"I just got home!" Sakura argued, but nonetheless followed Shizune to the hospital. She carried the stone in her bag and sighed. All she wanted to do was rest.

"Sakura, maybe you can talk to him?" Tsunade met her outside the hospital. Naruto stood there, looking away from everyone.

"Sure…" She said and walked inside. The chaos had settled down, but she still felt some anxiousness. She walked to the floor Sasuke was on, and began to feel nervous. Entering the room, she saw that he was fully awoke, and very pissed off.

"I won't tell you one more time, I wont have my arm cut off." He said out loud.

"S-Sasuke… It's… It's Sakura." She walked closer, but he turned to her and glared.

"Are you going to cut my arm off? I thought you would 'never hurt me'" He mocked her.

"I'm not going to cut off anything other than you sperm producing tools." Sakura glared at him, feeling every bit as pissed as he was. "So shut up and listen. Where did you get this?" She took out the torn page from her bag.

Sasuke looked away. "I've never seen that." He said. Sakura felt agitated and took out the fake pebble.

"And this?" She saw a flicker of recognition in his eyes, but he shook his head anyways. **'So he is still with Orochimaru…' **Her hope of him being a part of Konoha faded. But she wasn't going to turn him in… not yet.

"Naruto get back here!!" Sakura turned as Naruto barged through the door. Tsunade followed, glaring daggers into his back.

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto yelled. The two boys stared at each other, not one talking.

"Naruto, do you want to have your rank stripped?" Tsunade screamed at the blonde.

"Is that dobe still acting up?" Sasuke asked no one in particular.

"I'm not a dobe anymore!" Naruto walked up to Sasuke, ignoring Tsunade.

"So, you finally admit that you use to be one?" Sasuke smirked.

"Hey!" Naruto couldn't find a response. Sakura looked between both boys, and sadly began to walk out the door.

"Sakura." Tsunade called. "Can you finish the paperwork in my office? I have some things to take care off here." She took Naruto by the ear and sat him down on the chair.

"Sure." Sakura took one look at Naruto and Sasuke, and left. **'What happened to us…'**

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The bright light shone through Sakura's bag as she walked inside Tsunade's office. With every step closer to her desk, it got brighter. Sakura took the stone out, and showed it to the desk. She slid it over every thing, until finally it started shaking once it got near the top drawer. "What's happening…" She opened the drawer, and the light immediately went out. Inside the drawer, was a small, lone key. She picked it up and inspected it.

The back of it had a small word inscribed.

_Uchiha_

Sakura gasped. Was this the key to the Uchiha's house? All right, so it was much more than a simple house. She looked over the unfinished paperwork and decided to tell Shizune to do it later. This stone obviously wanted something at the Uchiha's. The name made her remember her second part of the deal. To fix Itachi Uchiha's eyes. She wasn't very sure how that was going to work out, or if she'll be able to even be around him without babbling all over the place. The man was capable of so many things. So many torturous, life-threatening things. Already scared for something she hadn't done yet, she closed the drawer and headed towards the Uchiha Manor.

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Sakura walked down the streets where the Uchiha's once lived. She never knew it, but they almost had their own town. She stared at the abandoned buildings and shivered. How many people did Itachi kill? In the back of her mind, she envisioned smiling people as they went on with their normal tasks. She saw old women, sweeping the streets and making conversation with each other. Men, busy with their work. And young boys, practicing the latest moves in the Ninja world. All the ordinarily lives ended with that one person. One person who haunts Sasuke's dreams. And here she was, Sakura, a Konoha shinobi who is technically helping that person. How wrong was that? But Sakura kept telling herself that it was for good reasons.

She saw where Sasuke once lived. The empty house where so many murders took place. Sakura grasped the key and walked up to it. She unlocked the front door and entered. Taking the Kihaku Stone out of her bag, she held it up. The bright light shone just a little brighter. Walking in various rooms, Sakura told herself that this was not breaking and entering. She didn't snoop in anything, and never took her time. Just walking in and out of rooms, until the stone got brighter and brighter.

"It's this room?" Sakura asked as she looked around. The dusty mattress was torn in half. The walls had kunai slashed everywhere, and the desk lay against a wall crumbled. Curious, Sakura kneeled down to the desk, and picked up a broken frame. She looked at the picture and wondered if this was Itachi's room. His face stood emotionless in the frame, as he looked somewhere other than the camera's direction. The two lines on his face betrayed his youth. It wasn't anger she felt towards the boy in the picture, but it was a total different emotion that she expected. Sympathy. His eyes looked as if they wanted to frown. "He looks… sad." She whispered. A small spider climbed onto the frame, and Sakura swiped it away. She slipped the picture into her bag. She wasn't sure why, but leaving it in an abandoned and torn up room just didn't seem right.

The stone shone clearly as she walked around the room, but it never went completely dark like last time. Finally, she was at the closet. It was a walk-in one, with cobwebs and spiders in every corner. The stone began to shake uncontrollably as Sakura walked deeper inside the closet. Once she got the wall, the stone stopped shining. She looked all around but didn't find anything. The closet was completely empty. Kneeling down, she felt the soft carpet on the floor. Her hand brushed an area that seemed to pop up. Sakura used her fingers to feel around it, and eventually got a hold of something. Lifting it up, she saw that it was a secret compartment. Inside the little hole underground, was a large cerise stone. The color reminded her of a deep red as she went to pick it. Unlike the Kihaku Stone, this stone felt 10x heavier than it should have been. It was bigger than her hand, and she had to use both to hold it. Placing the Kihaku Stone in her bag, she carried the red stone out.

"Is this the Sosei Stone?" She pondered. Who knew that it was actually real? Deciding that it was time for her to leave, she left the Uchiha Manor in a rush and headed back to her house. She had both stones… now what? And why was the Sosei Stone in Itachi's room? For the first time, she wished that Deidara and Tobi were there to take her to the Akatsuki base. She didn't want to waste any time with giving the Leader the stones. "Deidara… Tobi…" She called into her empty house. "Hurry up."

"Ah! Sakura-chan got both of the stones?" Tobi ran towards her smiling enthusiastically. "Now Sakura-chan can join!"

"Don't be a dobe-un!" Deidara smacked Tobi's head. "She still has another part of the deal-un!"

"That was fast…" Sakura noted. Tobi tried to nod but his headache didn't allow it.

"Leader got us on call-un. He wants these stones ASAP-un."

"Ok… well… take me to him." Sakura put both of the stones in her bag.

"Oh! Let Tobi knock Sakura-chan out!" Tobi ran forward but Sakura took a step back.

"Can't you just poof us in directly to his office?" She asked.

Deidara sighed but took her arm. "Fine-un."

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"You got both of the stones?" Leader asked as Sakura took them out from her bag. Deidara and Tobi stood behind her.

"Yeah. But, the Sosei Stone was at the Uchiha's house." She told him.

"I'll look into that." Leader motioned for Deidara to take the stones. The Sosei Stone didn't seem to be heavy at all when he took it in one hand, but as he went to reach for the Kihaku Stone, the gold surface shot a bright yellow substance out of it.

"The poison-un." He said as he backed up. Sakura expected it to her poison her, but it just remained in her hands, like a good stone.

"Let Tobi try!" Tobi went to take it, but it shot the poison at him too.

"It seems as if the stone has taken a liking to Sakura." Leader said. "Very well. You may keep that until we are in need of it." He took the Sosei stone from Deidara and put it in his desk.

"And the deal?" Sakura asked.

"You're first half is done. Now you heal Itachi's eyes. The sharingan has weakened his eyesight greatly."

Sakura gulped and nodded. She heard Deidara chuckle behind her.

"There's no way he'll let a little brat you like touch his eyes at all-un."

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_And the path to your goal is a tough one. You slip on obstacles, and stumble through hardships. The bigger your goal is, the more life-threatening it may be._

_So I ask once more, just how far are you willing to go?_


	4. The Mockery

_When should you admit a lie? Never? When you do admit to it, will those you love forgive you? Afraid of the truth, you let them believe whatever they want to believe. As long as they never suspect you of anything._

_-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------_

Sakura walked down the lonely hallway in the Akatsuki base. She closely examined her fingers as she prayed that she would not run into anyone.

"Sakura-chan!" Upon hearing her name, she turned around to find Tobi catching up to her. "Leader told Tobi to tell you where everything is! So Tobi was a good boy and made this map for Sakura-chan!" He handed her a small plastic board with what looked like a few lines here and there. "You see, this is where we are." He pointed to the bottom half, in a long hallway. At the end of it, it curved. The hallway then turned another point; back towards the hallway they stood it.

"So it's like a triangle?" Sakura asked.

"Yup! Sakura-chan is smart. Now, the first door here," He pointed to the tip of the triangle. "Is the door to go outside." He pointed at the next door on the right. "That's the kitchen, Deidara's sculpting room is next to that. Then it's the living area. And then," He got to the next hallway, where they were. "That's Leaders office. Then right here next to us is Tobi's room! Then it's Deidara, Kisame and Itachi. And this hallway," He looked up and motioned to the next. "Are just extra rooms!"

Sakura nodded. It was easy to understand. The part that creeped her out the most was the fact that the Akatsuki had almost a normal lifestyle.

"Okay… so. Itachi's room is that one?" She pointed to the last room in the hallway.

"Yup. But Itachi-san hates it when people talk to him. Tobi tried to talk to Itachi-san once but Itachi-san glared at Tobi. Tobi wasn't a good boy then." Sakura ignored Tobi and began to think of a plan. She remembered the photo, and how the Sosei Stone just happened to be in his room.

"That's a good conversation starter…" She muttered to herself. Tobi looked up at her questionably but then looked behind him.

"Deidara-senpai!" Tobi smiled brightly as Deidara strolled carelessly past them.

"Tobi, don't waste your time standing next to brats-un. You might catch something… bratty-un."

Sakura gaped and stared as Deidara walked inside what she guessed to be his room. Sure, she knew that he loathed her… but to actually insult her to her face like that?

"That stupid… irritating… ugh!" Sakura stomped away angrily. Tobi felt that his presence was no longer needed, and walked quietly into his room. "I'll show him…" She stood outside Itachi's door and gulped. Now what? Her hand slowly went to knock, but she hesitated. What was she going to say?

"Unless you're planning on knocking, you should probably put your fist down." Sakura turned around abashed. It took nearly everything in her not to run away. He stood there, looking at her as if he expected her to move. Then it clicked; he wants to go inside his room.

"I'm-really-sorry-I-just-wanted-to-ask-you-something-but-it-can-wait-if-you're-busy-so-please-just-forget-that-any-of-this-ever-happened!" She turned to leave, but his voice stopped her.

"Is it important?" He walked into his room, and Sakura wondered if she was supposed to go inside. "Guess not." She saw his hand as he reached out to close the door.

"Wait!" She yelled as she rushed towards his room. She slipped inside just as he closed the door. **'Damn.Damn.Damn.Damn.Damn." **She nervously looked around as she cursed herself over and over again.

"The question?" Itachi took a seat near his wall-sized window and took out two kunai. Using a damp washcloth, he began to clean the red stains from them. Sakura wondered just what the red stains were… **'Blood… of course.' **She examined his nearly empty room. The walls were a dark brown, and matched the soft red linen of the red. Black pillows lay atop the bed, standing out against the red. He had a cherry wood desk on the separate wall, next to the chair he was sitting on. **'I wonder who decorated this…' **She wondered, but didn't dare question him. "If you don't have a question, then leave." She jumped at his soft yet firm voice.

"W-well… I-I wanted to k-know…" She bit her tounge and scolded herself. "Talk normal…" She whispered under her breath. "The Sosei S-stone. It was… in your… room." Sakura stared at the floor as if it was the most interesting thing in the world.

"It was?" She heard him place the kunai on the desk. "That's… curious." She stood in her place, silently wishing for this meeting to be over. "Anything else?"

'**Here it is…' **She thought.** 'I have to ask him about his eyes…' **"Itachi-san…" She began. "L-Leader… Well… He wants me to… um… Your eyes." She just couldn't find the strength to put a sentence together. It sickened her. Forever, she had envisioned her being proud and determined… But now she was nearly having a heart attack just standing around Itachi Uchiha.

"My eyes?" Itachi took a small peek towards the cowering kunoichi. "What about?"

"Well…" Sakura sighed. So far he hadn't killed her. "Are… Are they damaged?"

"I don't know." He said. "Are they?" She blinked, and took a tiny step closer.

"C-can… Can I check?" It was no more than a soft whisper, but Itachi nodded and closed his eyes. As Sakura walked closer, she noticed the few similarities between the Itachi in front of her, and the one from the picture. His long lines, which slashed down his face, still made him look much older. He looked tired, and just wanting to be able to rest. But there was something about him, something that told her he wasn't ready to rest. He still had missions to do, people to kill, the norm if you a part of Akatsuki. For the first time, Sakura wondered how tiring being in the Akatsuki must be.

Her petite hands hovered over his eyelids. Every small movement from him made her flinch. Her eyes scanned every piece of his face, looking for anything that dimmed his perfection. Feeling a bit of jealousy flow through her, she closed her eyes and focused on checking his eyesight. She molded chakra into the tips of her fingers, and pressed them onto his eyelids.

At first, she saw no problems, nothing. But soon, she felt emptiness in the air. **'His eyesight is deteriorating…' **She thought. "Please take off the Sharingan." She asked, not stuttering one bit. Itachi did as she told him, and shut the Sharingan off.

Instantly, the emptiness in her fingers began to grow, almost twirling. "The more you use it, the more it will deteriorate." She explained to him. "I can help it, but you'll have to keep your Sharingan off for a few days before you can activate it."

She opened her eyes and saw that Itachi was looking away. He had reactivated his Sharingan, which caused Sakura to feel a little bit of anger. But not enough to actually scold the Uchiha.

"Will you heal it?" He asked simply.

"I… I kind of have to." She admitted. Healing her enemy's eyes didn't seem so appealing, but it was the last part of the deal.

"Tomorrow then." He took his two kunai's and began to clean them off once again.

"But… um…" Ignoring her, Itachi stared out the large window. Sakura noticed that it was raining, and wondered if it was raining over in Konoha as well. She turned to leave, and hearing Itachi's soft voice, she paused.

"Tell Kisame that it wasn't fish, but shark." Confused, she nodded and walked out, completely satisfied that their meeting was over. Shutting the door as quietly as she could, she saw Kisame walk past her. His glare sent chills her to spine, but she quickly remembered the message.

"Um… Itachi said that… it wasn't fish, but shark…" Sakura told him. Seeing his face fill up with anger, she backed away. Instead of going towards her though, he stalked off to his room.

"And to think that I ate that!!" He yelled.

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"So you will heal his eyes tomorrow, and then the deal will be done." Leader nodded at Sakura, who stood before him.

"Good…" She sighed, wishing for tomorrow to already be done with.

"Deidara, if you will. We can't have Sakura knowing where our base is just yet." Leader motioned for Deidara. Sakura took a step away from them and smirked.

"Oh and Deidara," She smiled at him. "Itachi did let a brat like me touch his eyes."

Growling, Deidara took her by the hair and shook her angrily. Leader watched with amused eyes. Sakura grabbed his wrist and tried to crush it. Deidara raised his other arm and hit the back of her neck roughly. Feeling angered, Deidara threw the unconscious kunoichi to Tobi, who caught her.

"Take her to her house-un." Deidara ordered him.

"Yes! Deidara-senpai!"

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"Just why did he have to do that!" Sakura yelled as she felt her bruised neck. She awoke to the blaring sun shining through the window. "Why does he hate me so much?!" She didn't bother to heal it, as she got dressed. Rushing to Tsunade's office, she completely forgot to carry the Kihaku Stone along with her.

"Sakura! There you are!" Tsunade rushed to her pupil. "Naruto wont leave Sasuke's side! He violently fights off all the nurses and wont even listen to me!"

"I'll handle it." Sakura let Tsunade rest as she walked to the hospital. Instantly, upon entering the floor Sasuke was located at, she heard shouting.

"Naruto-sama, you must leave."

"I'm not going anywhere!"

"Naruto, since when did you ignore the Hokage herself?" Sakura walked into the room. Sasuke stared out the window as Naruto sat in the chair beside him.

"Sakura-chan! You understand right?" Naruto focused his bright cerulean eyes on her.

"No, Naruto. I don't understand. I thought you wanted to be the next Hokage." Sakura stole a quick at Sasuke.

"I do but… I guess you don't understand… I just want Team 7 together. But you don't care." Turning his back on her, Naruto placed his attention on Sasuke.

"Naruto…" Sakura was hurt. "Of course… I do."

"No you don't." Naruto stated, still looking in Sasuke's direction. "But it doesn't matter. Sasuke and me have been talking, and we are going to make up Team 7 again. But it can only be a 3-man group Sakura, and Sasuke said he wanted Sai to be in it. But you're busy anyway, so it doesn't matter."

Sakura stomped out of the hospital. She ignored everyone who even tried to communicate with her. Frustrated, she entered her house and banged the door hard.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked herself.

"Wrong with who-un?" She found Deidara lying on her bed, all stretched out and relaxed. Tobi sat cross-legged on the floor. "Then again-un… When you're around a little bra-"

"Don't you even dare call me that!" Sakura screamed. Deidara jumped a little, but settled down. "All I've ever done was protect and care for him, and now look! The minute that traitor comes back he forgets all about me!" Sakura paced around her room. She looked at the two curious Akatsuki, and then moaned. **'Naruto was the reason why I'm even doing this…' **Sakura placed her hand on the window in her room. **'Damn it. What's the point of this?' **

"Is Sakura-chan okay?!" Tobi asked.

"I'm perfectly fine. I just need a break from all this." Sakura took a seat on the corner of her bed.

"Well, now is not the time to take a break-un." Deidara stood. "Leader wants you to check something out at the Uchiha's-un."

Sighing, Sakura stood back up. "What?" She asked.

"Just go there-un. He sent Itachi a while ago but Itachi hasn't come back yet-un."

"Fine." Sakura wondered if something could have happened to Itachi. She headed to the Uchiha Manor, leaving two uninvited Akatsuki members alone in her house.

"Should I be worried…" She wondered. "Nah."

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Sakura walked down the long street towards the Uchiha's Manor for the third time. The moon cast a silver outline on the lone street.

"Ey!" She turned around to see Kisame running up to her.

"Do the Akatsuki really not care if they're found by Konoha villagers?" Sakura turned around, angry by their constant appearances.

"We only let the villagers see us when we want them too." Kisame took a stroll next to her, scanning everything in sight. "Itachi left a while ago, Leader sent me here to check up on him."

"He sent both of us?" Sakura asked. "I'm pretty sure whatever is going on that two Akatsuki members can handle it."

"Just shut up and pay attention." Kisame entered the Uchiha's house, followed by Sakura. She noticed nothing odd, at least, until the floor shook.

"There's a fight." Kisame said and took off into the house.

"Wait!" Sakura noticed something moving in the living area. She walked closer, and saw Itachi lying very still on the floor. "Kisame!" She called. He entered and cursed when he saw his partner.

"Take care of him, I'll find the bastard that did this." Kisame left them and searched the house. Sakura took Itachi's arm into her hand and searched for the problem.

"Mmmm…" She heard a soft murmur.

"Itachi…" She whispered. "Can you hear me? If so, move your fingers" Giving a faint nod, Itachi tried to move his fingers but failed. "You were poisoned." She stated. "No worry, this is the most basic poison. Just a drop of an antidote and you'll be better." He nodded very softly, which shocked Sakura. The poison that flowed in his veins was basic, but deadly. He shouldn't even be able to move anything. She took out the antidote from her bag and a needle. Using the same process and before, she carefully slipped the needle beneath his skin into his veins.

"Get back here!" She heard faint noises, but knew that it was Kisame struggling.

"I'll be right back." She told Itachi and left to help Kisame. "Kisame, what's-"

Kisame pushed Sakura back into the wall.

"She's fast, keep your back on the wall." He instructed her. Sakura nodded and saw a small flash on the corner of her eyes. She turned to see it, but the flash left instantly.

"It's a girl?" She asked. Kisame nodded and left the wall, to get pushed back in it by some force.

"A damn fast one, she must have poison with her somewhere." Sakura watched as Kisame left the wall again, but before he could be pushed back, she gathered chakra into her hands and pushed Kisame towards the girl as hard as she could. She heard an oof, a rather familiar voice as well.

"Hinata!" Sakura yelled at the girl. She was struggling to get back up from under Kisame.

"You knew her?" Kisame stood with Hinata's neck in his hand.

"Knew her? She's a friend!" Sakura went to get Hinata away from Kisame, but he backed up.

"This isn't your friend, kunoichi." Itachi stood behind her, like he never was even poisoned. "It's a puppet."

Sakura shook her head and looked at the girl. Her familiar white eyes stared at Sakura, pleading for help. But Sakura saw her hand slip into her pocket, and she knew that Hinata never used poisons.

"But… then… that means…" Sakura stuttered.

"Your little friend is dead." Kisame took Hinata's head and snapped it in half. Sakura looked away, not daring to watch as Kisame made sure the puppet would never move again. "It seems as if Sasori wanted something from here." Kisame looked around the house.

"The Sosei Stone." Itachi nodded, understanding. "He didn't know that Leader already has it." Sakura kneeled down next to the broken puppet. She brushed the soft black hair gently, fighting back the tears.

"Sasori, he was a part of the Akatsuki… right?" She asked.

"Yeah. Til you killed him. Now he's back, but doesn't seem to like us very much." Kisame looked at Itachi who nodded. "Itachi expects you to heal his eyes tomorrow. Kunoichi." Sakura stared at Hinata as both Kisame and Itachi left, heading back to the Akatsuki base.

"I'm so sorry Hinata." She whispered. "Why did he have to use you?" She felt the tears quietly slide down her face. The drops landing on Hinata's pale cheeks. Sakura picked Hinata up and walked out of the Uchiha Manor, towards the Hokage office.

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"And we are here to mourn over a young girl, who was brutally used by none other than the Akatsuki. She was a petite girl who held her honor through thick and thin. Hinata Hyuga will always be remembered for her kind heart and her determination."

The gloomy sky looked down upon the mourning villagers. The Hyuga family stood in the front, each crying as they took their time to say goodbye to the girl one last time.

Ino walked slowly up, sobbing on the shoulder of Tenten. "She didn't deserve this."

"The Akatsuki…" Naruto whispered, standing next to Sakura. "They'll pay for this… For Hinata, and Tazuna."

"Yeah…" Sakura said. "The Akatsuki."

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_And you don't know when the right time to speak the truth is. You mislead people to believe what you want them to believe. Because if you speak the truth, then they'll know all about you, and your lies._


	5. The Confusion

_It's nearly impossible to stay out of others business. When those who can't help but get involved in everything around them, they only get involved with many more things. Things that they may not be able to handle._

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Sasori watched from afar as two figures dashed rapidly away from Konoha.

"The Akatsuki…" He whispered, wondering just what is was. Putting away these curious thoughts, he quickly continued along his mission. "This must be the house." He stated as he searched for any openings. Finding an opened window, he jumped inside cleverly. The floor shook as he landed inside what seemed to be the kitchen. Searching the house, he found a small bedroom. He scanned the area and found what his boss told him to receive.

Carefully, he reached out to grab the golden stone, but as his fingers got closer, he felt the electricity twirling along his fingers. Not noticing the danger, his hands encircled the stone, only to be fully burnt and torched.

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"Ow!!!" Sakura paused at the loud voice as she entered her home. She had just gotten back from Hinata's funeral service. "Shit shit shit!" It yelled. She hurried to her room and found a redhead holding his charred hands.

"Sasori of the Red Sand…" Sakura breathed, her eyes slightly wide as a former dead Akatsuki member stood before her.

"You… you know my name?" He inspected her closely. "You… you were with those two men earlier." He remembered her; she was the one who cried over his little puppet.

"What are you doing here?" Sakura envisioned the dead Hinata, and Sasori making her into a puppet.

"I was ordered to receive this stone. But…" He faltered for a moment. "It wont let anyone touch it." Sakura walked towards them and picked the stone up from her desk. "How did you…" Sasori mouthed.

"Why are you against the Akatsuki?" Sakura had to know. "And how are you alive?"

Sasori blinked, utterly confused. "Was I dead?" He asked. "And who are the Akatsuki?"

"You… you forgot?" Sakura looked at him. "The Akatsuki… You don't remember?"

"Do you know who I am?" He asked her. "I can't remember anything."

Sakura didn't see him as a murderer or a betrayer from that point on, she saw him as a lost boy who didn't know what he was suppose to do.

"You're not the only one…" She whispered. "It's probably better that you don't know anything…"

"Was I apart of the Akatsuki?" Sasori asked. "Maybe… Maybe I can come back…"

Sakura pondered this. What if he had a much better life than this? What if going back to the Akatsuki wasn't the best for him?

"No." She finally said. "You hated them. I just thought, maybe, you could tell me why. But I guess now you can't. I'm sorry." She didn't know why she was doing this… Maybe to save him from the Akatsuki? But… what was there to save?

"Oh." Sasori sadly nodded. "I'll… I'll be going now. But, you… I'll be back for that."

"Wait!" Sakura yelled as he turned to exit the window. "Why are you doing these things? Why Hinata?"

"I'm only the pawn…" He said. "Master is telling me what to do." Before Sakura could question him, he left.

"The pawn…" She mimicked. "The pawn…"

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"There has been sighting of the Akatsuki here." Tsunade pointed to a small point on a large map. "The forest right outside Konoha. This could be our only chance to capture them. This is the only way we can guarantee Naruto's safety. Haruno, Sakura; Uchiha, Sasuke; Uzumaki, Naruto and Yamanaka, Ino, you four are in charge of inspecting the area. You are not to infiltrate it, only scout it and report back ASAP. Understood?"

"Yes Hokage-sama." Sakura looked at her comrades, silently wondering if Tsunade truly trusted Sasuke with this task.

"Do we leave now?" Naruto asked in a hurry. With a nod, Tsunade handed each one small earpiece.

"This is for communication with each other." She announced. Each shinobi slipped on their earpiece. "You may go."

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"Naruto… can I talk to you?" Sakura asked politely as the four walked out of the Konoha Gates.

"Sure." He said as they both walked off to the side, leaving Ino and Sasuke walking in the middle of the path.

"Are you sure Sasuke should be on this mission?" Sakura spoke softly. "If it's the Akatsuki, then Itachi could be there."

"I've asked Sasuke about this, and he said that he would behave himself." Naruto looked back at Sasuke. "I believe him."

"How can you?" Sakura wondered. "I'm amazed that Tsunade let him out of the hospital so soon."

"Sounds like you don't want him on this mission." Naruto accused of her.

"Naruto…" Sakura said sharply. "Sasuke betrayed Konoha for power just to kill his brother. Now he comes back and says he completely changed. If Itachi is here, then I'm worried that Sasuke might do something rash."

"Sakura. You should trust him. After everything we've gone through with him."

"Went through?" Sakura nearly cried. "We were a team with him for a year. A year. Naruto, what are you thinking?"

"Since Sasuke left, Team 7 left. All I want is Team 7 again. And I'm going to get it that wish. You don't care, which is why we're replacing you with Sai."

That made Sakura stop. "Sai was a replacement for Sasuke, Naruto. Not me!" She tugged his arm to make him face her. "We were Team 7! Team Kakashi! You're chasing a dream Naruto!"

"It's not a dream Sakura! It's a right!" He left her to catch up with Sasuke and Ino. Sakura slowly caught up, but strayed from Naruto and Sasuke. If only she could tell him that Sasuke was still with Orochimaru, but he most likely wouldn't have believed her.

Ino took a hold of Sakura's arm and stopped for a bit, until Sasuke and Naruto were far ahead of then. Still holding Sakura's arm, she started to walk again, but very slowly.

"Trouble in Team 7?" Ino questioned.

"There is no Team 7, that's the problem. Naruto is so certain that now that Sasuke is here, Team 7 can be a team again. He even wants to replace me with Sai."

"Maybe he just missed Sasuke…" Ino said. "Now that his best friend is back, Naruto wants to make sure everything goes perfect. So that Sasuke doesn't leave again."

"What if Sasuke isn't back?" Sakura asked her. "What if… Sasuke is just pretending…" She wanted to know what Ino thought.

"If that's true, then he has everyone played. But, we can never know, can we Sakura? If Sasuke has some devious plan up his sleeves, Naruto will know. I mean, best friends know those kinds of things. They know when their best friends aren't themselves. Whether if they're in danger, or if they are pretending to be someone else."

"True…" Sakura lied. If that was real, then at least Ino should've noticed something about her.

"Team 7 has been through hell, Sakura. Now that all of the members are back together, just enjoy it for the time being." Ino smiled and intertwined their arms. "When you're frustrated, it only makes your wide forehead look humongous."

"Thanks, Ino." Sakura said.

"No problem, forehead girl."

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Sakura, Ino, Naruto and Sasuke rested at a clearing nearly 10 miles away from where the Akatsuki were reported.

"We go there tonight and see if they are there." Naruto told the group.

"Ok. I'm going to go get firewood." Sasuke stood and headed into the forest.

"I'll find some fish from that river we saw earlier." Naruto went to opposite way Sasuke left.

"Well… I'll go help Naruto." Ino decided. "You help Sasuke." She smiled at Sakura and left.

"Damn Ino…" Sakura muttered, knowing that Ino planned that all out. Sakura walked into the forest, and followed Sasuke's footsteps. She was picking up random piece of wood when she heard voices.

"And the girl?" The voice was all too familiar.

"Sakura doesn't know anything."

Sakura hide her chakra and carefully sneaked up on the voices. Gasping, she watched as Sasuke and Orochimaru spoke to each other.

"The Akatsuki members are Deidara and his little friend." Orochimaru told him.

"So it's not Itachi… damn." Sasuke kicked the floor lightly with his foot.

"But… if you bring me them, I will hand Itachi to you directly."

Sasuke nodded, angered that his brother wasn't there.

"Good boy." Sakura saw Orochimaru disappear, and then Sasuke picked up a large stack of wood. Quickly, she dropped the wood she held in her hands and sprinted off towards where the Akatsuki supposedly were. She had to warn them. She didn't know why, but she felt obligated to.

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Deidara's shaking hand brought a piece of burnt fish to his mouth. Tobi looked interested to see what his response was.

"It's…" Tobi scooted forward. "Absolutely…" Tobi was nearly face to face with Deidara. "Disgusting-un." Feeling dejected, Tobi slid back to his position from before.

"Tobi is sorry Deidara-senpai. But Tobi has never made fish before."

"Well… next time you make fish-un, at least make sure it is dead-un." Deidara said, staring at the left over fish squirming.

"But they are dead! Tobi made sure!" Deidara was about to say something mean, until a large, unwelcome, annoying voice came out of the woods.

"Deidara! Tobi!" Both turned as they saw Sakura scramble out of the forest. "Konoha knows that you're here. You have to leave!"

"And the brat comes back-un." Deidara glared.

"I'm serious!" Sakura yelled. "Orochimaru told Sasuke to give you guys to him in exchange of Itachi."

"Sakura-chan cared about us enough to warn Tobi and Deidara?" Tobi stood and smiled brightly at Sakura.

"Well… no… I mean…" Sakura couldn't find a good answer.

"Don't get your hopes up-un." Deidara stood. "She doesn't care about anyone in the Akatsuki-un."

"That's a mean thing to say!" Sakura yelled at him.

"Then why did you kill one of us-un?" Deidara threw a piece of fish at Sakura. "If you cared about us then you wouldn't have-un!"

"I don't care!" Sakura caught the fish and dropped it on the ground. "I just need…" She paused.

"Like I thought-un. Little brat doesn't know what she want-un." Deidara turned, but Sakura grabbed his arm.

"You're mad at me for killing Sasori. I know this. But you have to understand that I did what I was ordered to do. If I had known him as a person, instead of just an Akatsuki member, maybe, just maybe I would have had a second thought. But I didn't know him."

"And that allowed you to kill him-un?" Deidara took her hand off him.

"If I didn't care, then why would I have warned you guys? I just as easily could have let Konoha captured you. But I didn't!" Sakura tried to explain to him.

"You want to join us-un." Deidara turned. "Yet, you're still so faithful to Konoha-un. Look at you, you're desperate to at least belong somewhere-un. Like I said, you don't know what you want-un. Come on Tobi-un."

Sakura sadly stood in her place as Deidara and Tobi left the area, probably going to the base. Then she remembered something; she forgot to ask them what they were doing there.

"Sakura!" She turned to find Ino, Naruto and Sasuke rush towards her. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah." Sakura answered. "I saw someone running, so I followed them, but… this was all I found." She pointed to the empty campfire and the fried fish.

"Looks like they're gone." Naruto pointed out. "Let's tell Tsunade."

"Okay…" Sakura nodded.

As they headed back towards Konoha, Sakura took the time to look between Sasuke and Naruto. She wanted to apologize to Naruto. For what? She didn't know, but she couldn't stand having Naruto angry with her.

"I'll report to Tsunade." Ino said as they reached the Hokage Tower. "You three can just rest."

"Naruto…" Sakura asked as they watched Ino go inside. "Do you want to have dinner?"

"Thanks Sakura-chan, but I have plans with Sasuke to train." Sighing, she watched as Naruto and Sasuke walked off together.

'**Team 7…' She thought. 'I miss it.'**

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Sakura walked into her house and immediately noticed his presence. For a small second, her heart stopped. She wasn't use to being around him. Remembering that she still had to heal his eyes, she brought a small vile of liquid into her room. She saw him sitting on her bed, waiting for her to start the process.

"This is a little potion to help open up the pores. It'll make it easier for me to heal it." She explained to him. "I'll have to split this up into 5 different sessions. One session every two days. You'll have to leave your Sharingan off for a week."

With a nod, Sakura took a chair and placed it in front of him. She sat on it and poured just a little drop of the potion on to her fingers. "Close your eyes please." She gently massaged his eyes with her fingers, opening up the spaces. She molded chakra into her fingertips, and began to heal his eyes. She did it for nearly 30 minutes straight, until she broke the silence.

"Why does Deidara hate me so much?" She asked. "I know I helped kill his partner, but aren't the Akatsuki members suppose to not care for others?"

Itachi took a moment to answer that. "Some members fail that part." He spoke.

"But… I still don't understand."

"Why are you asking me this?" Itachi said coldly.

"Well… I just… I…" Sakura frowned. "This session is over."

"You can't talk about anything other than your work without stuttering." Itachi noticed.

"Well… Normally I can… But…"

"Being in our presence makes you nervous. Correct?" Itachi stood from the bed.

"Yeah…" Sakura looked away, ashamed.

"Maybe you should learn to not be nervous." Itachi turned to look at her.

"I guess…"

"You lied to me!" Sakura turned around to see Sasori barge into her room. "You said I wasn't a part of the Akatsuki!"

Itachi looked at him amused.

"What right do you have to lie to me!" Sasori grabbed Sakura from the neck. "What right!"

"Let her go." Itachi said.

"Why should I?" Sasori stared as Sakura tried to get a grasp on his arms.

"She's valuable to me. To my eyes." Itachi took a step forward. "Let her go."

"P-please." Sakura mouthed.

"Fine." Sasori let her down. Sakura tried to catch her breath. "But you'll pay for that." Sasori stalked out of the room. "You'll pay."

"Wait! How did you know?" Sakura called after him.

"Master told me!" He left.

"You told him he wasn't a member?" Itachi asked. Sakura nodded, not able to vocally speak. "Maybe you should have reconsidered that."

Nodding again, Sakura watched as Itachi left as well.

"Since when did I get myself into this." Sakura asked herself. "Just what have I done?"

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_What right do you have to interfere with other lives? What right do you have to become a part of something, you were never meant to tangle with? The consequences are always deadly, no matter what your resolution may be._

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**Sorry it's really short.**

**I have to wake up early tomorrow. :))**

**Lpreki93  
**


	6. The Care

_You keep telling yourself what is true, and what is not true. You ignore the grateful feelings you get. And you tell yourself that you don't care. You just don't care. But are you going to believe even your lies?_

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"The Land of Valleys has disappeared. The Land of Swamps has disappeared. The Land of Stone has disappeared. The Land of Red Beans has disappeared. The Land of Honey has disappeared. There have been reports of several odd occurrences in the Land of Earth. However, the Land of Earth will not allow anyone to enter or leave."

Tsunade and Sakura listened as Shizune read the report sent in.

"But what about the disappearances?" Sakura asked. "Have the whole land disappeared or…"

"The people have." Shizune scanned through the document in her hands. "There is also a large stain of blood found in the middle of very village, yet no bodies."

"How odd…" Tsunade closed her eyes and thought of a solution. "The Land of Earth isn't too far from us. If whatever is happing doesn't stop, Land of Fire may just disappear as well."

"We should send shinobi into the Land of Earth." Sakura spoke. "And they can go in by force if needed."

"But what if we are sending them into a death trap?" Shizune asked. "The blood stains are huge, which at least proves that some battles are occurring."

"Sakura is right." Tsunade decided. "But the shinobi selected will be very careful. Sakura, you are to be in the chosen group. Along with Neji, Ino, Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke. You are to travel through the Land of Grass, into the Land of Earth, preferably to Iwagakure."

"That'll take days!" Sakura argued. "Crossing over the mountains would take forever!"

"You have three days top to get there." Tsunade told Shizune to explain the mission to the rest of the group. "Sakura, I'm issuing you as the Leader for the time being. This is an urgent mission."

"Fine." Sakura nodded, looking for any other way other than the mountains to enter.

"Sakura, this is a secret mission as well, I expect no one other than those I've chosen to know about it."

"Ok." Sakura said.

"Tsunade-sama, Sakura, the group has been assembled and informed." Shizune told them.

"Good luck Sakura." Tsunade said as Sakura walked out.

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Sakura watched as the group started for the Land of Grass. If Tsunade had picked the people whom she thought could keep a secret. Well… if that was the case then Ino and Naruto shouldn't have been there.

"Kakashi! When did you come back from your mission?" Naruto asked.

"Just a few days ago." Kakashi mumbled as he pulled out a little red book.

"Why do you read that stuff?" Ino walked over to him, intent on getting that book away. "It's gross!"

"You, little girl, don't know what this stuff is. And if you did, I'd be worried." Kakashi stated and moved away from her. Sakura turned to Sasuke, who walked patiently next to Naruto. Neji was in the lead, keeping a look out for any danger.

"Shouldn't we be… not sticking to the roads?" Sakura asked for anyone who would listen.

"There seems to be no danger." Neji replied.

"Yeah. But we're in a rush." Sakura knew that all of the three days would be spent on the mountains, so it's crucial to get there as soon as possible.

"The Land of Grass isn't very big." Sasuke spoke up for the first time. "It shouldn't take long to get across it."

"You would know." Sakura muttered, referring to the rumor of Orochimaru's hideout being there. Sasuke just turned to her and smirked. Sakura readjusted her bag, making sure the Kihaku Stone was stored in a safe place. Ever since Sasori had tried to steal it, she wanted to make sure it was everywhere she goes.

"Well… this is it." Kakashi said as they entered the Land of Grass. "If we dodge Kusagakure, we can get to the mountains within an hour."

"An hour?" Sakura asked, amazed. "That fast?"

"Well it's not that far away, look." Ino pointed to the far off distance, where small mountains could be spotted.

"In that case, I think we should stay at a hotel for tonight!" Naruto suggested.

"Maybe a little later when we are closer." Kakashi walked up towards Neji and walked steadily next to him. Sakura watched every ones back as they interacted with each other in small talk.

"Roommates?" Ino asked as she began to walk next to Sakura.

"Actually…" Sakura said, wanting to get some alone time. "I think I'd rather be in my own room for tonight." What she wanted to ask was, why on earth were they going to stay at a hotel.

"Well. I hope they have fish. I really want some steamed fish right now." Naruto rubbed his rumbling stomach.

"Fish?" Ino said. "What happened to ramen?"

"Ah… I mean… Yeah! Some ramen." Naruto stumbled over his words, looking slightly pink in the cheeks.

"Whatever they have, I just want some food." Sasuke said, folding his arms over his head.

"Yeah…" Naruto said, looking over at Sasuke.

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"Is this where we're staying?" Ino asked. Kakashi looked up at the wooden inn and nodded. "This is it."

"It's only 10 minutes away from the mountains." Sakura complained. "Why can't we just go now?" Silencing her with a glare, Kakashi walked inside the inn. The rest of the group followed, with Sakura at the end.

"3 rooms." Kakashi said.

"Actually 4. I'll pay for mine." Sakura stepped up to the counter. A young boy nodding and took the money. Giving them 4 keys, the group split up into their rooms. Kakashi and Neji shared one, followed by Naruto and Sasuke who were next door. Ino's room was across from Kakashi's, and Sakura's was next to Ino.

"We'll leave tomorrow morning." Kakashi said. Sakura momentarily looked out the window. The sun was still out.

"What are we suppose to do until then?" Ino asked.

"I guess rest." Neji and Kakashi went into their room and closed the door. Naruto followed Sakura's gaze towards the window.

"It's a long time until tomorrow." Naruto said.

"Too long." Sasuke walked into his room to rest, followed by Naruto.

"I guess I'll rest too…" Ino said, looking at Sakura.

"Yeah." Sakura smiled. "See you tomorrow."

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Taking out the Kihaku Stone, Sakura took a seat on her oversized bed. She watched as the stone's light shone brighter, but only a small bit. If it weren't for her trained eyes, she wouldn't have noticed it.

"There's a Sosei Stone somewhere… right?" She asked the stone, knowing that there would be no answer.

"If that's the case then you should probably get it-un. Leader would love to have two of them-un." Sakura jumped at the intruder. Deidara stood in her room, with Tobi closing the window. "It'll probably make him think you're actually wanting to join us-un."

"What are you doing her?" Sakura asked, still getting over her shock.

"Leader sent us here-un."

"Leader told Tobi and Dei-chan to watch over Sakura-chan!" Tobi took a seat next to Sakura.

"Don't call me that-un!" Deidara yelled at him.

"Tobi is sorry!!" Tobi cried.

"You don't have to listen to him." Sakura soothed Tobi. "You guys are equal. He's not your master."

"Don't you even start listening to her-un." Deidara warned the boy. "It's not worth it-un."

"Listen," Sakura stood. "I don't know why you're so keen on hating me!"

"Don't you pretend to be all goody good-un!" Deidara yelled back.

"I'm not pretending!" She bickered.

"Sakura-chan! Deidara no danna! Don't yell to loud! Someone might hear you!" Tobi warned.

"Whatever-un." Deidara backed up. "We'll be following you to The Land Of Earth-un. So watch for us there-un."

"Fine. But you better have a different attitude!" Sakura yelled as Tobi opened the window.

"I think I liked the stuttering brat better-un!" Deidara said as he and Tobi left.

Sakura fumed as she lied down on her bed. "Why does he love to insult me?" She asked herself. "It's so annoying." Slowly, she began to feel tired. "Whatever…" She muttered as she fell asleep.

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The first thing Sakura noticed about the mountains was the 20 mph winds blowing her now long hair across her face. Small pebbles scratched the surface of her skin, and she knew that as they got farther along the mountain, those pebbles would soon turn into boulders. Not enjoying this one bit, she trudged along with everyone else, pushing against the wind. They had gotten an early start, though Sakura would have preferred them to get there earlier.

"This wind is FRUSTRATING!" Ino screamed. Sasuke did unknown hand seals and created a force field around the group. It sheltered them from the terrifying winds. "Finally! You couldn't have done that earlier?" Ino shot a glare at Sasuke who smirked back.

"I wanted to see if anyone else could do it." Quickly, he gave Sakura a glance.

"We're almost there!" Ino pointed over the mountain. "You can see the whole village from here!"

"Ino." Kakashi and Naruto said at the same time. "Look."

Confused, Ino looked back at the village. "Oh god…" She whispered. "There's no one there."

"We're too late." Neji said.

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"Lets split up." Sasuke told them. Neji nodded and told everyone to go different directions. For a moment, Sakura wondered if they knew that she was the supposed leader, but said nothing. Following her orders, she went her way.

The village had buildings made out of stone. "Good protection…" Sakura said. "Just not against mass murders." She stayed close to the mountains, which made the natural border. She searched for anyone, but nothing was even close to alive. "What happened here…" She wondered.

"It was some kind of ritual-un." Deidara walked up behind her. "Look-un." Tobi took Sakura's hand and pulled her along the village's street. Deidara walked quietly along. The stench of blood was so near that Sakura almost gagged. Tobi let go of her hand when they reached a plaza. In the middle of everything, was a large puddle of red water.

"No…" Sakura walked along it, looking into her dimmed reflection. "It's blood." She quickly dipped her finger into it. "Its fresh as well. Whatever happened, occurred only hours ago."

"Just imagine how many bodies must have died here." Tobi sadly said.

"And that's another thing-un, there aren't any bodies." Deidara watched as Sakura took out a bright golden stone.

"The Kihaku Stone…" Sakura watched in amazement. "It's acting up!" She pointed the stone away from the puddle, and it dimmed. "Is it… in the puddle?" Instantly, the stone shone as bright as the sun. Deidara shielded his eyes with his hand.

"You can go in there-un. But I'll stay nice and clean-un."

"Okay." Sakura said and gently hugged the stone. Her feet stepped onto the puddle, and was instantly soaked with blood. As she trailed along, she could feel the dark liquid swishing slightly. When she got to the middle, the Kihaku Stone began shaking. Sakura kneeled down, with the blood puddle surrounding her ankles. With one hand holding the Kihaku Stone tightly, she used the other to search the puddle. She imagined that the liquid covering her hand wasn't blood, but water. Her fingers brushed something sticking out. Grabbing a hold of it, she began to pull. The item wouldn't budge.

"Let Tobi try!" Sakura watched as Tobi got onto his knees, not bothered by the blood that soaked his pants and half his shirt. He grabbed the item and pulled with all his might. For once, Sakura wished she could see under the mask. See who he really was. Not that many people would get washed in blood just to help someone else out.

Deidara watched from afar as his retard partner helped Sakura. He felt a tinge jealousy, but quickly ignored it.

"I got it… but it's heavy." Tobi said as he picked up the object. Sakura watched as the sun glinted off the shiny red surface of a Sosei Stone.

"What's that doing here?" Sakura wondered, but was cut off by a large explosion. Instantly, the whole ground began to shake. "An earthquake!" She yelled, holding the Kihaku Stone and running away from the blood. Tobi followed her, carrying the Sosei Stone along with him. The ground began to split apart, and Sakura had to concentrate just to stand straight. The three ran towards the entrance of the village. Sakura noticed that the stone buildings began to collapsed, and stopped just as one fell with a large thump in front of her. Deidara stopped next to her, looking for any other dangers. The building blocked Sakura's view, but knew that Tobi was on the other side. Her eyes caught another large chunk of the building falling straight towards her blonde friend.

"Deidara!" She yelled and pushed him out of the way. The stone fell onto her back, and she heard a sickening crunch.

"Sakura-un!" Deidara yelled, pushing the stonewall off her. "Are you ok-un?" He asked.

Sakura tried to stand up, but her back sent a sharp twist of pain all over her body. Her eyes looked everywhere, but instead of finding help, she saw the large crack in the ground coming straight towards her from the side. Deidara noticed it too, because he got a hold of her body and backed up. The sudden move made Sakura's back send another shock. She screamed and tried to move. Deidara stopped her, looking into the large hole in the floor. Sakura tried to ignore the pain and looked in too, but the sight didn't help anything.

Piles and piles of bodies were stacked up on each other on the very bottom. Each body stared straight up at the sky with dead eyes. Sakura crawled towards the crack, hearing deadly crunching sounds along her back. She heard voices, but didn't pay attention to any of them. Every villager in the Land of Earth lied dead underground. "No…" She mouthed. "No..."

"Your back-un." Deidara kneeled down to her. "It's broken-un."

"I don't care." Sakura snapped. Deidara followed her gaze to the piles and piles of bodies.

"If you don't do something now, it may stay broken-un." Deidara watched as Sakura tried to stand up.

"Tobi… Tobi… Where is he?" She looked around frantically.

"He's alright-un. He went to alert Leader-un." Deidara tried to find a way to pick the girl up without hurting her back, but found none.

"I'm fine." But Sakura couldn't straighten her back without braking bones.

"No you're not-un." Deidara paused as he felt a familiar chakra nearby. "Damnit-un." He cursed and picked Sakura up bridal style. She squirmed in pain but couldn't do anything as Deidara dashed across all the broken buildings towards the entrance.

Sakura picked up her head when she heard screaming. "Tobi!" She yelled. She recognized Tobi being brutally beaten by someone else. "Sasori…" She whispered.

"Give me the stone." Sasori ordered. Deidara gently laid Sakura on the floor and entered the fight.

"Sasori-un!" Deidara called.

"Who are you?" Sasori glared at the blonde as he sent puppet birds to peck at Tobi's bleeding arm.

"Sasori-un…" Deidara whispered. "What do you want-un?" He yelled.

"This." Tobi showed Deidara the Sosei Stone he held in his hands. Deidara walked over to Tobi and took the stone from him. He looked at the so achingly familiar face of Sasori, and held out the stone.

"We already have another one-un." Deidara told him. "Take it-un."

Sakura watched from where she laid and shook her head. "Deidara… no." Blood oozed out of her mouth. The pain in her back was still painful, but she was becoming more and more numb to it as the moments passed by.

"Just one thing in return-un." Deidara stepped closer to Sasori and whispered something in his ear.

"Sure." Sasori nodded and left, holding the Sosei Stone in his possession. Deidara made a large bird out of clay and lifted Sakura up on it. Tobi followed, sitting carefully on the end. Deidara jumped on just as the bird took off into the air.

"What… did you ask him?" Sakura quietly asked.

"To make sure your friends are safe-un." Deidara redirected the bird towards Konoha.

"But why?" Sakura loved the soft wind blowing through her hair.

"Because you care more about your friends than yourself-un." Deidara explained. He looked down to see Sakura sleeping soundly, finally numb from the pain. "You see, I try to be nice to her one time and she falls asleep on me-un. The irony-un." He told Tobi. When he got no reply he turned to see Tobi sleeping as well. Angry at being ignored, he shot a small exploding bird made out of clay towards Tobi. The explosion made the masked-boy jump and fully awake. "You get what you deserved-un." Deidara muttered.

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Sakura slowly awoke to the bright white walls of a hospital room. She quickly registered this to be in Konoha.

"Sakura! You're awake!" Ino nearly jumped on her bed to hug Sakura. "I was so worried!" She cried.

"Ino… what happened?" Sakura felt that her back was no longer broken.

"We found you on the way back to Konoha. You must've walked then fainted from your broken back." Ino took a seat next to Sakura.

"So… the Land of Earth…"

"It's had an earthquake. Sakura… I thought I saw bodies inside in the ground. Neji said he did too… but… Sasuke, Naruto and Kakashi all said that there was no such thing." Ino looked troubled. "But I know what I saw."

Sakura looked at Ino, memorizing every small detail. What if Ino got caught up with everything? With the stones, the Akatsuki… Orochimaru.

"It was probably nothing." Sakura said. "And if you did see something, I'm sure it's been reported. This hasn't been the first area to have every villager disappear."

Ino nodded. "You're right. I should just forget it. Well," Ino smiled brightly. "Get better forehead girl! I'll check up on you later!"

"Sure." Sakura watched as Ino left. The Land of Earth may have been the fifth area for all the villagers to vanish, but what if it was the first one to have a Sosei Stone taken out?

Sakura thought for a second. What happened was a ritual… and they used a Sosei Stone. But there was no Kihaku Stone there. For all she knew, there could only be one Kihaku Stone.

That thought brought her back to reality. She saw her bag next to her bed and quickly looked inside it. The Kihaku Stone laid there, like a good little stone. "Deidara and Tobi must've put it there…" Sakura said out loud. Truthfully, she was grateful that they both were there. She paused, and then shook her head. "No." She said determined. "I'm not glad… they're the Akatsuki." She reminded herself. "I should never be glad that they're around."

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_How long, until you care for someone? Is it when they nearly save you life? Or when you risk your life to save theirs? Is it when you think about them, and you find yourself glad that they're there… Whatever it may be, when you start to care for someone, there's no turning back._

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**Reviews are always loved. **

**And Deidara would love some. :))**

**Lpreki93  
**


	7. The Connected

**A/N Naruto doesn't belong to me.**

_You being to question those around you. Those who are involved, and those who are innocent. Or, is everyone just lying to you and instead of him or her being oblivious, you were the one who was living in your own world? Or are you lying to everyone, and they are the ones who are in their own world? Questions… Questions… Questions…But is there anyone who can give you a true answer?_

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Sakura laid her hands on Itachi's eyelids, preparing for their second treatment. She tried to discard all of her questions but she couldn't find peace. Itachi felt a small sting coming from her fingertips but disregarded it, thinking that it was a method of healing his eyes. But soon he felt her hands to be pushing against his eyes harder than before. Itachi knew she wasn't focused on his eyes, but decided to give her some slack. Until he came to his senses and smacked her hand away. "If you're not going to concentrate maybe we should reschedule this." He looked at her pink face.

"I'm-sorry-if-I-hurt-you-or-anything-but-I-have-my-mind-really-busy-and-I-can't-seem-to-focus-on-anything… Haha." Sakura once again bit her lip, scolding herself for not acting professionally.

"And here I thought you were getting better at the rambling on. Oh well." Itachi sighed. Sakura looked guilty.

"I apologize." She stood from her chair and walked towards the window. "But I just can't seem to focus on one thing lately." Sadly smiling to herself, Sakura looked at the small villagers doing their everyday things. "I envy them sometimes."

"Sometimes we envy those who envy us." Itachi stood as well, positioning himself next to Sakura. "You see that little girl right there?" He pointed to a small, blonde child rushing to catch up with her mommy. "She is beaten by her step-father constantly. Her brother sexually abuses her and her mother remains oblivious to these events. I'm sure when she sees you walking down the street, she wishes to trade lives with you, not knowing of what you are currently going through as well."

"How do you know this?" Sakura asked. She kept a close watch on the little girl as a boy, maybe only 8 years older, wrapped his arms around the girl. Itachi pointed back to the little girl, telling Sakura to look closer. The boy's hand was dangerously close to the little girl's reproductive area, and Sakura could see dark, purple bruises on the child's legs and arms. An older man picked the little girl up, his strong hands pushing against the bruises without sympathy. "Oh." She mouthed. How did Itachi, this murderer, know exactly what to say? "We should start on your eyes again." Itachi nodded and sat back down on the bed. Sakura took her seat and started the process over again.

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"The Land of Earth has disappeared. Their buildings are gone, and every person is missing." Tsunade reported to the Council. "Five other villages have disappeared since then. Bringing the total to eleven. We must find out what is happening before this epidemic spreads." The crowd began to talk, each feeling the same thing, fear.

"These villages that have disappeared so far, none of them have been a main village." A man spoke out. "They are villages that no one cares about."

"And it makes it better?" Another man cried out. "This could happen to us! I believe we should take immediate action!" Many screams of approval shot out.

"Which is exactly what I am doing." Tsunade said. "I am sending a team of shinobi to two villages for the remainder of the year. If there is any sign of danger, they are to report to me at once. The villages I have decided to send reinforcements are The Land of Sound and The Land of Rain." Tsunade ended the meeting, preparing to tell the selected shinobi of their mission.

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"Yamanaka, Ino; Ten-Ten; Hibiki, Yonuiski; Nara, Shikamaru. This first team has been selected to go to The Land of Sound for the remainder of the year. The next team consisting of: Uzumaki, Naruto; Sai; Uchiha, Sasuke; Haruno, Sakura; Hyuga, Neji and Hatake, Kakashi has been selected to go to the Land of Rain for the remainder of the year. Good luck." Tsunade informed each team. Sakura dimly smiled, frowning inside. This new mission will only complicate her current one. As the shinobi walked out, Tsunade called Sakura aside.

"I want you to be careful." Tsunade whispered. "It nearly took a part of me just to assign you to a mission like this. But I trust your capabilities." Sakura felt her heart clench up. "Come back safely." Tsunade hugged Sakura.

"You can count on me." But as Sakura said the words, she felt as if she programmed to say them. This odd, new sensation worried Sakura. But she ignored it as they said their goodbyes.

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"It shouldn't take very long to get to the Land of Rain." Kakashi told everyone on the first day of their journey. "It should be less than a week to get there at this rate." Sakura doubted that anyone was listening. She looked from Sasuke to Naruto. Naruto acted as if everything was back to normal, but Sakura knew better. Sasuke wasn't truly back, he was only pretending. But he was a damn good pretender.

"Tomorrow we'll find a hotel to rest at." Neji said. "It'd be better to be rested once we get there. I'm sure Tsunade wants us to do some research inside."

"But, how do we get in?" Sai asked. "I've heard that they are very selective on who gets in."

"Tsunade has already taken care of our arrangements." Sakura told Sai, who nodded but remained quiet.

"Instead of renting a hotel, can we just save money and put up a tent?" Naruto asked everyone. No one had any objections to his request, but Sakura remained curious.

After a days journey, Sakura found that her throat ached. Maybe it was from not talking for nearly an entire day, or maybe it was a sign of sickness. "We should rest now." Sasuke said.

"There's a nice clearing up ahead." Neji scanned the area. "It should be good for setting up a tent." Every shinobi had brought their own tent, all except Sakura, who had many other things in her mind.

"You can borrow mine, Sakura, I have no problem sleeping outside." Kakashi offered, but Sakura shook her head.

"I'll be fine outside." Once everyone was inside his own tent, Sakura took out the Kihaku Stone. What she had seen in the Land of Earth has bothered her for quite a while. She knew she should be busy trying to find the missing torn pages, but she didn't feel the need to. Knowing that there was a small lake nearby, Sakura searched for it. Upon finding it, she stripped her clothes off and laid on the very edge, comfortable with the water up to her neck. She gazed up at the full moon. "Lovely…" She whispered and felt the soft breeze flow through her hair. Relaxation was a stranger to a shinobi, but she welcomed this stranger with open arms.

"And here the kunoichi is… DAY DREAMING WHEN SHE HAS THINGS TO DO-UN!" Sakura yelped at the unwelcomed voice. Deidara leaned against a nearby tree with his arms crossed. Sakura quickly ducked so that only her head was showing, knowing that her face was now starch red. "And don't be so flattered-un. Any man of my level would never gawk at the opposite sex-un. That's just not of our profession-un." But Sakura wasn't listening to him; instead she was smiling at Tobi, who got in the lake with her.

"Sakura-san has such a pretty body!" Tobi smiled.

"TOBI WHAT ARE YOU DOING-UN?" Deidara yelled. "Do I need to have the talk with you-un? Try to be more professional time to time-un."

"I see someone has gotten more loud." Sakura whispered, gaining Tobi a hard hit on the head by the furious blonde. "What's your problem?" Sakura shouted at him.

"My problem-un? Leader has been complaining about your deal from the moment you made it-un. And guess who is at the receiving end of his complaining-un!"

"Fine!" Sakura pushed Tobi back onto the ground. "But do me a favor and turn around." Deidara blinked, confused. "So I can put my clothes on you baka!" Sakura glared at the man until he turned fully around. "The nerve of this man…" She mumbled.

"And I see someone has become more build with what they say-un…" Deidara mentioned, feeling both annoyed and angry. Sakura got out of the lake and put her outfit back on.

"Well?" Sakura asked. "What's with the surprise visit?"

"Leader-sama wants Tobi and Deidara no danna to keep an eye on Sakura-san while she in the Land of Rain." Tobi explained.

"An eye on me? I don't need any babysitters." Sakura held the Kihaku Stone in her hands.

"The Land of Rain is where our base is-un. Leader doesn't want your team to get anywhere close to it-un. Especially considering who your team consists of-un." Sakura nodded, making sense of it. If Sasuke was to find the base… well… deal or no deal, she couldn't guarantee how the day would end up.

"We should arriving in the Land of Rain tomorrow night. I'll do my best to keep them busy, but while I'm there I'm going to try to do some research on the Sosei Stones, so I can't promise anything."

"Well, we'll be seeing you soon-un." Deidara and Tobi said their goodbyes. Sakura went back to the campground, seeing that everyone was fast asleep. The ground made a hard bed, but it was good enough for Sakura. She fell asleep almost instantly, dreaming of the soft swaying of an ocean.

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They were almost to the Land of Rain when Sakura felt the first presence. Sai stopped, motioning for Neji and Sasuke to stop as well. Kakashi took a stance with his kunai, and Naruto grew anxious, having it been a while since his last battle.

"All around." Neji whispered softly. Everyone nodded and took their fighting stance. Sakura felt her bag shake, but before she had the chance to check on the Kihaku Stone, dozens of kunai flew out of the surrounding forest. The team scattered, disappearing into the forest as well. Sakura ducked under a bush, a kunai barely brushing her cheek hit the tree behind her. She spotted the tag attached to the kunai before it exploded.

"It's not safe hiding!" Kakashi yelled. "Stay in the clearing!" The team reappeared in the clearing, each person facing a different direction. A man, sporting a long coat, came out. His face was ruined with scars, but his smile remained passive.

"The stone." His voice spoke with venom. Sakura knew what he was talking about, but Kakashi answered.

"You're mistaking us for another group. We have no stone." Kakashi remained defensive.

"The stone." The man turned to Sakura and growled. He leapt and opened his coat over Sakura. She flinched as she saw several kunai, each one with an explosive tag, aimed towards her. Quickly, she made hand seals. The kunai collided with her body, but a cloud of smoke revealed a log. Sakura appeared next to Kakashi.

"There is no stone!" Sakura yelled. But several men, all familiar to the first, came out of the forest.

"We want the stone." They repeated over and over again. Sasuke stood in front of Sakura. He looked back at her, and gave his all too familiar smirk.

"Don't worry about this." He whispered so only she could hear him. "I'll protect you." Sakura wanted to slap him. She wished that his arms were cut off; she just wanted him to be gone. He knew how much he could get under her skin, and he loved every minute of annoying her.

"Stop pretending that everyone loves you." She glared at him. "And get out of my fucking way." She moved over so that he was standing by himself.

"Sakura, they seem to be attracted to you." Neji noticed. "Try to distract them." Sakura nodded, throwing some kunai at each man.

"Fighting is inevitable." One man said. "Now that you have the stone, you will be fighting for years to come." He dodged every kunai. He pointed at Sakura, the tip of his finger rotating in a circular motion. Sakura's breathing slowed, her legs stopped moving, and her head spun. "Don't run away." A voice screamed in her head. Sakura collapsed on her knees, feeling the ground shake. The strange men all smiled as they focused their attention on her. Neji ran up to one, but someone behind him knocked him off guard. He felt someone grab his neck before falling unconscious. Sai turned to who knocked Neji out and was shocked.

"Naru-" Sasuke hit Sai, giving him a hard blow to the stomach.

"Sakura!" She heard soft voices calling to her, but the world surrounding her was too loud. "Sakura!" Something sprayed in her face. The sun was blocked by a large shadow. Sakura snapped back to reality, only to see Kakashi standing in front of her, propped up against something. Sakura's eyes widened as she saw a blade sticking out of Kakashi's back. Her hands went up to her face, and she wiped away blood from her cheeks.

"Kakashi!!" She yelled as she stood to catch his falling body. "Damn it!" She cursed herself for being so spaced out. The bleeding wouldn't stop. Sakura looked up to see the strange men walk away. Sasuke and Naruto bent down, each trying to help with Kakashi's bleeding body. Sakura looked from Neji to Sai, seeing their unconscious body strewn among the ground. "What happened?" She asked, but Sasuke shook his head. Naruto took Sakura and pressed her pressure point hard, knocking her out as well.

"You have to rest." Naruto whispered before she blacked out. "We'll take you guys to the Land of Rain and get medical attention."

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Sakura felt dizzy. That was the only thing she could feel until her senses came back. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find the white walls of a hospital room.

"Sakura?" Naruto's caring, blue eyes looked down at her. "Are you alright?"

"Mmmm…" She mumbled. "Kakashi?" Sakura sat straight up. "How is he?"

"He'll be fine." Neji and Sai came in, each looked at Naruto questioningly. "But I don't know if these two will be fine, they're seeing things." Naruto grinned. Sakura blinked. "Oh never mind, anyways, once you and Kakashi are better we can go to our hotel. Sasuke is already there, he bought six rooms, one for each person." Sakura nodded and laid back down.

"I'm fine now, actually." Sakura said. Naruto offered to take her to the hotel, but she declined, saying that she needed some alone time.

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Sakura walked the long, empty streets of Amegakure. Her hair now soaked from the drizzling rain. The hotel wasn't very far from the hospital, Sakura noticed thankfully. She entered it and asked for her room key from the front desk. "Thank you." She walked up the two sets of stairs and entered her room. She felt his chakra before she saw him.

"Itachi." She seemed kind of surprised.

"Expecting someone else?" Itachi asked, sitting on her twin bed.

"Not exactly." Sakura became use to these surprise visits. "But my chakra is far too low for another treatment tonight. I apologize."

"I'm not here for that." Itachi told her.

"Don't tell me that your leader is being too impatient again." Sakura sighed.

"I am not here under his guidance either." Itachi spoke. "I'm here for your benefit." Sakura looked him straight in the eye.

"What?" She asked. Since when did Itachi ever do stuff for other people?

"Tomorrow, meet me in the Ossei Temple. There's something I believe you should see." Itachi stood. "Agreed?"

"I guess…" Sakura said. She watched as he nodded and left through the front door. **'Akatsuki members really don't care if they are seen…' **She thought, but soon she found herself relaxing in her bed. "It doesn't matter…" She told herself. Her fingertip began to sting. Sakura took a look at it, but didn't see anything different. "Kakashi…" She whispered. What if he had been seriously hurt? He wasn't involved in anything… right?

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_Who can you trust in your web of lies? Are you sure you are the only one lying? Or maybe, is everyone else lying as well?_

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**Whew! It's been a while. Haha.**

**Reviews are most welcome.**

**Sorry if this one seemed slow, but its been a while.**

**And now it's Christmas Break. ******

**Please Review!!**

**Lpreki93**


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